Apple's iPhone grew to 25.1% global market share in 2012

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The latest worldwide smartphone data from IDC reveals that Apple's worldwide market share grew to 25.1 percent in 2012.

IDC


Apple's total iPhone shipments increased 46.9 percent last year, from 93.1 million handsets in 2011 to 136.8 million in 2012.

Controlling a quarter of smartphone shipments, Apple was squarely in second place worldwide, in a two-horse race with market leader Samsung ??the only other company among the top five vendors that managed to grow its share.

Samsung easily outpaced Apple in 2012, growing its shipments by 129.1 percent, more than doubling Apple's year-over-year growth. Samsung also saw its market share grow from 19 percent in 2011, when it was in a dead heat with Apple, to 39.6 percent in 2012, or nearly 15 percentage points ahead of Apple.

In third place, Nokia continued its tumble, losing 54.6 percent of its shipments from 2011. The Finnish handset maker represented just 6.4 percent of smartphone shipments in 2012.

HTC took third, off 25.2 percent from 2011, which was good for a 6 percent share in 2012. That tied it with Research in Motion, which also had a 6 percent share after its shipments slid by 36.4 percent.

IDC


Looking at the fourth quarter alone, IDC's data suggests the gap is widening between Samsung and Apple in terms of shipments. Apple already announced this week that it shipped 47.8 million iPhones in the holiday quarter, and IDC's data found that was a 21.8 percent market share ? a number actually down from the 23 percent share Apple held in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Samsung, meanwhile, shipped 63.7 million smartphones in the holiday quarter, and its overall market share grew from 22.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 29 percent in the same period in 2012.

The rest of top five also signal a changing of the guard began at the end of 2012, as Nokia, RIM and HTC are absent, replaced by low-cost players like Huawei and ZTE.

IDC found that Huawei grew its shipments 89.5 percent year over year to 10.8 million, good for 4.9 percent of the market in the fourth quarter. In fourth was Sony, which surged 55.6 percent and took 4.5 percent of the market. And ZTE took fifth, growing 48.4 percent and capturing 4.3 percent of the market.

IDC's data contrasts with Strategy Analytics, which also reported its own market share data this week. Strategy Analytics found that Apple's market share was just 19.4 percent in the 2012 holiday quarter, up from 19 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member
    Looks like the data is saying it was a good war overall but a weak holiday quarter for Apple.
  • Reply 2 of 55
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by blackbook View Post



    Looks like the data is saying it was a good war overall but a weak holiday quarter for Apple.


     


    Looks like the data is showing that you're a troll.

  • Reply 3 of 55
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    blackbook wrote: »
    Looks like the data is saying it was a good war overall but a weak holiday quarter for Apple.

    How was the fourth most profitable quarter in human history weak?

    This is another sign that Apple is doomed. /s
  • Reply 4 of 55


    RIM and Nokia are tied for the death spiral award.

  • Reply 5 of 55
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Nokia at 6.4% - they never knew what hit them.
  • Reply 6 of 55
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    The latest worldwide smartphone data from IDC reveals that Apple's worldwide market share grew to 25.1 percent in 2012.


     


    Yep. Well IDC's figures are wrong. (Total smartphones 2012)


     


    http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23455612#.UQKN2I7OYqY


    http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23624612#.UQKN7Y7OYqY


    http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23753512#.UQKOFI7OYqY


    http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23916413#.UQKOM47OYqY


     


    Total should be around 700 million.


     


     


     


    Quote:


    IDC's data contrasts with Strategy Analytics, which also reported its own market share data this week.



     


    Well the discrepancy is so large perhaps a little fact checking might have been in order AI ?

  • Reply 7 of 55
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member
    anonymouse wrote: »
    Looks like the data is showing that you're a troll.

    jungmark wrote: »
    How was the fourth most profitable quarter in human history weak?

    This is another sign that Apple is doomed. /s

    Weak in that their market share went down for the quarter.

    I meant to say good "year" not good "war". I always have trouble with the mobile version of AI...
  • Reply 8 of 55
    Samsung does not release unit sales. How does IDC report unit sales with any confidence?
  • Reply 9 of 55
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Where do these places get their data from? Are these actual sales figures or just guesstimates from analysts?
  • Reply 10 of 55
    @philboogie it's called "Microsoft"! Possibly also "self-inflicted mutilation".

    @blackbook Yeah, the Ai mobile is irritating.
  • Reply 11 of 55
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by blackbook View Post



    Looks like the data is saying it was a good war overall but a weak holiday quarter for Apple.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


     


    Looks like the data is showing that you're a troll.





    Overall, Apple's share was 25% in 2012. But the Q4 share was 21%. Furthermore, it's lower than its Q4 share in 2011. So is Blackbook really completely wrong?


     


    I understand the instinct to feel defensive when one is a holder of $AAPL. But objectivity is worth as much as money?

  • Reply 12 of 55
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    Two things. Samsung does not report unit sales/shipments. So, this is pure guess on IDC's part

    Second, Samsung is notorious for channel stuffing. How many of these phones are sitting on the shelf and in warehouses? For Apple, its almost shipments = sales
  • Reply 13 of 55
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post





    How was the fourth most profitable quarter in human history weak?



    This is another sign that Apple is doomed. /s




    There are only a handful of analysts/pundits who are insinuating that Apple is doomed. Many are simply questioning, rightly or wrongly, whether their growth is slowing down. Based on numbers, they are not totally wrong (growth is slowing despite record numbers in absolute terms).


     


    Exaggerating what pundits are saying may give you a two-second psychological boost, but it dampens your objectivity overall.

  • Reply 14 of 55
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Red Oak View Post



    Two things. Samsung does not report unit sales/shipments. So, this is pure guess on IDC's part



    Second, Samsung is notorious for channel stuffing. How many of these phones are sitting on the shelf and in warehouses? For Apple, its almost shipments = sales




    You can keep hammering that nail all you want. It won't change how everyone is reporting numbers. There is no denying Samsung's is doing very well and this is more a Samsung-Apple war now, and less an Android-iOS confrontation.

  • Reply 15 of 55
    nelsonxnelsonx Posts: 278member


    AAPL 448$ right now!

     

  • Reply 16 of 55
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    stelligent wrote: »

    There are only a handful of analysts/pundits who are insinuating that Apple is doomed. Many are simply questioning, rightly or wrongly, whether their growth is slowing down. Based on numbers, they are not totally wrong (growth is slowing despite record numbers in absolute terms).

    Exaggerating what pundits are saying may give you a two-second psychological boost, but it dampens your objectivity overall.

    A "handful of analysts" wouldn't have caused a 60 pt drop in stock price. Growth is slowing relative to the last ten years but it is still growing at "normal levels"
  • Reply 17 of 55
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post





    A "handful of analysts" wouldn't have caused a 60 pt drop in stock price. Growth is slowing relative to the last ten years but it is still growing at "normal levels"




    So how many analysts actually wrote/said that Apple was "doomed". Please provide link in each case. Otherwise, you're liar, right? :)

  • Reply 18 of 55
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JollyPaul View Post


    RIM and Nokia are tied for the death spiral award.



     


    I think they'll both bounce back slightly in 2013. Nokia's Lumia sales are growing steadily and have generally been well received by reviewers. Nokia is also sitting on enough cash to keep them going for a long time. BB10 is make or break for RIM but it looks good. As a developer, I'd much rather develop apps for BB10 than WP or Android.


     


    I doubt either will ever compete with the two juggernauts of the industry though.

  • Reply 19 of 55

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by NelsonX View Post


    AAPL 448$ right now!

     



    Yep! Saw That and bought some shares today.


    AAPL is now at a record low, it can only rise from here.


     


     


    I hope  °_°?

  • Reply 20 of 55
    Samsung's growth is at the expense of third party Android handsets, RIM, Nokia and Microsoft, not Apple.
Sign In or Register to comment.