IDC smartphone tracking shows Apple, Huawei and Xiamoi had year-over-year growth in smartphone shipments
For smartphone shipments around the world, 2015 was a good year. IDC reports smartphone sellers moved nearly 1.433 billion units last year.
That breaks down to smartphone sales of 399.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, which is 5.7% more than the same quarter in 2014. Year-over-year, smartphone sales grew 10.1% compared with 2014.
“Usually the conversation in the smartphone market revolves around Samsung and Apple, but Huawei’s strong showing for both the quarter and the year speak to how much it has grown as an international brand,” said Melissa Chau, senior research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “While there is a lot of uncertainty around the economic slowdown in China, Huawei is one of the few brands from China that has successfully diversified worldwide, with almost half of its shipments going outside of China. Huawei is poised to be in a good position to hold onto a strong No. 3 over the next year.”
Apple sold 74.8 million smartphones in Q4 2015, up 1% from Q4 2014. China continued to play an important part in Apple’s global market with 18% year-over-year growth in iPhone sales.
“With initial Apple shipment estimates all over the map, Apple assured the public that demand for its premium smartphones is still alive and kicking,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “A new record-setting quarter for Apple indicates consumers continued demand for Apple’s latest offerings regarding upgraded hardware and software. Features such as a more widely accepted Apple Pay, increased performance, and the innovative Force Touch technology, continue to set the iPhone apart from the competition.”
This graph, provided by IDC, details shipment figures from vendors Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi:
