Apple overtook Samsung in Q4, 2016 smartphone sales

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Apple has overtaken Samsung to become the world's top smartphone vendor, in terms of unit sold in the final quarter of 2016.

Apple sold 78.3 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, up 18 percent from a year earlier, boasted by the sales of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, taking 17.8 percent piece of the pie. 

Samsung on the other hand during the same period shipped 77.5 million smartphone during the same period, down 5 percent from a year earlier, taking 17.7 percent of the market share.

The report says Apple capitalized on Samsung's recent missteps, as the the South Korean tech giant has been facing humiliation after the Galaxy Note7 fiasco, due to faulty batteries.

The next three spots were taken by China's Huawei, Oppo, and vivo with 10.2 percent, 6.7 percent, and 5.8 percent share, respectively. Global smartphone shipments grew nine percent annually from 403 million units in Q4 2015, to 438.7 million in Q4 2016.

However, overall in 2016, Samsung maintained the top spot with 20.8 percent market  share by shipping 309 million units, followed by Apple with 14.5 percent, shipping 215.4 million units. The next three spots were claimed by China's Huawei, Oppo and vivo.

Huawei grabbed 10.2 percent market share with 44.9 million units sold, followed by Oppo with 6.9 percent market share and 29.5 million units sold, while vivo captured 5.8 percent of the market share with 25.6 billion units sold.

The report from Strategy Analytics also stated that global smartphone market recovered slightly due to stronger demand in China and Africa and grew 3 percent year-on-year to 1.49 billion in 2016.

Kaiser Bey

Kaiser is a tech enthusiast who likes to write, read and talk about tech. He dreams of going to Mars and never come back. We hope that you find his posts on AndroGuider helpful and informative