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The global sales of mobile phones to end users were flat in the third quarter of 2014, while sales of smartphones grew 20.3 per cent to reach 301 million units, according to a study by Gartner.
“Sales of feature phones declined 25 per cent in the third quarter of 2014 because the difference in price between feature phones and low-cost Android smartphones is reducing further,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.
In the third quarter of 2014, smartphones accounted for 66 per cent of the total mobile phone market and Gartner estimates that by 2018, nine out of 10 phones will be smartphones.
From a regional perspective, emerging markets exhibited some of the highest growths ever recorded with Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa achieving the highest increase in the third quarter of 2014, with sales of smartphones growing almost 50 percent year-over-year.
Among the mature markets, the U.S. achieved the highest growth, with an 18.9 per cent rise in the third quarter of 2014, fostered by the launch of the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus. Western Europe saw a decline of 5.2 per cent, the third consecutive decline this year.
“Over the holidays we expect record sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but we should not underestimate the Chinese vendors and local brands,” said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner.
SAMSUNG LOSES MARKET SHARE
Sales of Samsung’s feature phones and smartphones declined in the third quarter of 2014.
Samsung’s deepest decline came from feature phones, which decreased by 10.8 per cent year-over-year. Demand for Samsung’s smartphones weakened mostly in Western Europe and Asia.
Samsung’s smartphone sales declined 28.6 percent in China, the biggest market for Samsung.
Sales of iPhones grew 26 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.
With the introduction of two large-screen phones for the first time, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple managed to neutralize the advantage of Android competitors.
Gartner expects Apple to experience its biggest ever fourth-quarter sales, with both of its large-screen phones seeing demand exceed supply since their launch.
Although Huawei moved into the number three position in the third quarter of 2014 there is still less than 1 million units between the bottom-three smartphone vendors in the top five.
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