Apple Inc was the world’s top smartphone seller in the final quarter of last year, seizing the crown from Samsung Electronics Co, market trackers said.
Apple shipped an estimated 73.8 million iPhones during the fourth quarter, driven by the popularity of its newest models in the US and Europe and lower-priced handsets in other parts of the world, International Data Corp (IDC) reported on Thursday last week.
Apple, which has been below Samsung for some time, “is recovering, due to cheaper iPhone 11 pricing and healthier demand in Asia and North America,” said Neil Mawston, executive director of wireless device strategies at Strategy Analytics, whose separate survey also showed Apple on top in the past quarter.
South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung delivered about 69.4 million handsets as it slipped to the No. 2 position, IDC said.
Chinese smartphone powerhouse Huawei Technologies Co (華為) remained a strong player in its home market, but saw sales of premium models take a hit in Western Europe in the wake of US sanctions, IDC associate research director Melissa Chau sid.
“Things will continue to look challenging for Huawei given that the trade war is still not yet resolved, while new uncertainty raised around the Wuhan coronavirus could potentially have adverse effects on not just Huawei, but all players reliant on the China smartphone supply chain,” Chau said.
Huawei shipped 56.2 million smartphones during the quarter, a decline of about 7 percent from the same period a year earlier, IDC reported.
Huawei faces headwinds because of US sanctions that have prevented it from receiving key components and software, IHS Markit senior analyst Anna Ahrens said.
“In markets like Western Europe, the lack of Google services will make Huawei phones a hard sell for consumers, especially considering that the company’s Mate series is positioned squarely in the premium price segment,” Ahrens said.
Samsung remained the top smartphone seller overall last year, and the broader market is expected to receive a boost as 5G telecom networks are established and new smartphones synched to them are launched.
For the full year, overall smartphone sales were down about 1 percent despite an improving trend in the fourth quarter, IDC and Strategy Analytics surveys showed.
IDC reported shipments of 368 million handsets last year compared with 373 million a year earlier — a third consecutive yearly decline.
Separately, Apple is temporarily closing its 42 stores in mainland China, the company’s third-biggest market in terms of sales behind the US and Europe. China is also where most iPhones and other devices are made.
The iPhone maker said in a statement that it was closing stores, corporate offices and contact centers in China until Sunday “out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts.”
“Our thoughts are with the people most immediately affected by the coronavirus and with those working around the clock to study and contain it,” the statement said.
Apple’s online store is to remain open.
In a note on Saturday, Wedbush Securities Inc analyst Daniel Ives predicted the store closures would have a “negligible” effect on Apple, largely because consumers in mainland China would still be able to buy iPhones and other products through online channels.
Even if the shutdown of the brick-and-mortar stores extends throughout the whole of this month, Ives said it would only lower Apple’s annual iPhone sales in that region by about 3 percent.
Additional reporting by AP
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