Samsung Easily Tops Apple to Become World's Top Smartphone Manufacturer
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Samsung had overtaken Apple for the title of world's top-selling smartphone manufacturer, relying on a source who indicated that Samsung had shipped over 20 million smartphones in the third quarter, compared to Apple's announced sales of 17.1 million iPhones.
Samsung today officially announced its financial results for the third quarter, and while it no longer releases smartphone sales units, it did disclose that smartphone sales were up more than 40% over the previous quarter. With Samsung having been close on Apple's heels during the second quarter and Apple's sales declining in the third quarter as customers waited for the iPhone 4S, that growth enabled Samsung to easily surpass Apple in the smartphone segment.
Research firm Strategy Analytics has released its data on smartphone shipments for the third quarter, pegging Samsung at 27.8 million units while Apple barely edged out Nokia for second place by a margin of 17.1 million units to 16.8 million units.
Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “After just one quarter in the top spot, Apple slipped behind Samsung to second position and captured 15 percent share. Apple’s global smartphone growth rate slowed to just 21 percent annually in Q3 2011, its lowest level for two years. We believe Apple’s growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S2 model.”
While Apple is expecting all-time record iPhone sales during the current quarter as the iPhone 4S rolls out around the world, it still may not be enough to overcome Samsung's significant lead and strong growth.
In the overall mobile phone market, Strategy Analytics pegged Apple in fifth place, slipping behind ZTE compared to the previous quarter. Apple's share of the total market fell to 4.4%, down from 5.6% in the second quarter.
Popular Stories
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence.
Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476
The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices.
With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...