Apple's Share of Smartphone Market Slips as Smartphones Outsell Feature Phones for First Time

Research firm IDC yesterday released its estimates on worldwide mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2013, showing Apple losing some ground in the smartphone market with only 6.6% year-over-year growth compared to 41.6% growth for the entire market. Still, Apple maintained a firm grasp on the number two spot behind Samsung, as challengers LG, Huawei, and ZTE were unable to reach the 5% mark during the quarter.

idc_1Q13_smartphones

Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)

Apple's smartphone shipment volume hit a new first-quarter high thanks in part to the iPhone 5, with volume growing 6.6% year over year. However, the last time the iPhone maker posted a single-digit year-over-year growth rate was 3Q09. The iPhone maker has held the second spot in the smartphone rankings for the past five quarters. Apple's mix of models shipped to market is increasingly diversified as it tries to reach new buyers.

Apple does, however, continue to ride the wave of popularity for smartphones, with IDC noting that smartphones outsold feature phones for the first time during the quarter. As a result, Apple's 6.6% year-over-growth outpaced the 4.0% growth rate of the mobile phone market as a whole, allowing Apple to creep up to an 8.9% share.

idc_1Q13_phones

Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...

Top Rated Comments

mrobit Avatar
147 months ago
iOs 7 will bring better results. Hardware is flawless, software and price is the reason why people go to Samsung.
Software should be the reason why people stay away from Samsung.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zunjine Avatar
147 months ago
What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.

See, this is interesting. I have to disagree with you on all these points.

The battery life on the iPhone isn't poor compared to the industry in general. It's actually pretty good. Sure, it could be better - but it certainly isn't bad.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6330/the-iphone-5-review/13

The iPhone 5 screen is widely considered to be among the best screens available on any consumer device. If you consider all things, not just the PPI then you see things more clearly... no pun intended! OK. Pun intended.

http://www.redmondpie.com/displaymate-iphone-5-display-is-better-than-any-consumer-display-you-own-beats-galaxy-s-iii/

Screen size is smaller, yes - this is a preference thing. I, for one, am glad that Apple hasn't gone crazy with the massive screens. This article on The Verge was a breath of fresh air for me - finally some people talking sense about screen sizes: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4230996/motorola-developing-android-phones-with-stock-software-just-right-size

As for price, other high end smartphones are roughly the same price offline. The Galaxy s4, for example, is around £600 offline here in the UK. About the same as a 32GB iPhone 5. Plus, with the iPhone, you don't get the tacky cheap plastic and the bloatware - and you get support! Software updates, an amazing ecosystem and people to talk to. All worth money to me.

Obviously, all things are down to personal taste in the end, but to claim that the iPhone has a poor battery and a poor screen and is too expensive is just factually incorrect.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macUser2007 Avatar
147 months ago
Yeah, we don't need no OS improvements, no larger screens, no multitasking, no customization....

Sad.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apple_iBoy Avatar
147 months ago

What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.

Do you really find the screens on Samsung phones that much better? The ones I've seen in person have been horribly color-balanced.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uknowimright Avatar
147 months ago
that magical Samsung warehouse with endless room for "shipped" phones must be getting bigger

:rolleyes:
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jsameds Avatar
147 months ago
iOS 7 really needs to step up to the mark
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)