Android dominates OS sales figures, according to Gartner, but Apple, BlackBerry and Windows share all fell in Q2
Samsung has increased its lead as the top vendor in the world, according to Gartner’s latest figures, after shipping 76.7 million smartphones in the second quarter of the year.
In Q2 2015, the Korean manufacturer shipped 72 million devices, with a 21.8 per cent market share. This year, it increased its share to 22.3 per cent, driven by sales of the Galaxy S7, and furthering its lead over rival Apple.
The iPhone-maker saw sales fall in Q2, from 48 million in 2015 to 44.4 million. It holds second spot in Gartner’s top five with a shrinking share of 12.9 per cent.
Huawei makes up the top three with a share of 8.9 per cent (8pc in 2015), having sold more than 30 million devices in Q2. It’s Chinese rivals Oppo and Xiaomi made up the top five, with a 5.4 per cent and 4.5 per cent market share respectively.
Oppo, which owns OnePlus, more than doubled shipments for the quarter yearly, from just over eight million in 2015 to 18.4 million. Xiaomi shipments remained flat at 15.5 million.
Overall, 344 million smartphones were shipped in the three months ending June 30, up from 330 million in the same period last year. But the overall mobile market shrank slightly (0.5 per cent), due to the diminishing feature phone market, with sales down 14 per cent.
“Demand for premium smartphones slowed in the second quarter of 2016 as consumers wait for new hardware launches in the second half of the year,” said Gartner research directo Anshul Gupta.
“The top five smartphone manufacturers together continued to gain market share in the second quarter of 2016 €” up from 51.5 per cent to 54 per cent year on year, led by Oppo, Samsung and Huawei.
“Features such as an anti-shake camera optimised for selfies, and rapid charge technology, helped Oppo carve a niche market for itself and boost sales in a highly competitive and commoditised smartphone market.”
Android domination
Google’s operating system Android strengthened its dominance, seeing market share increase from 82.2 per cent in Q2 2015 to 86.2 per cent. Overall, 296 million Android devices shipped in the quarter.
It gained share from Apple’s operating system iOS, which had a 12.9 per cent share, down from 14.6 per cent YOY. Windows Phone sales also slumped, with just 1.9 million devices running the operating system shipped in Q2, down from 8.2 million, giving it just a 0.6 per cent market share.
BlackBerry’s OS also slumped to just a 0.1 per cent market share, with just 400,000 devices shipped running the operating system in Q2. BlackBerry last year launched its first Android device, and recently announced a follow-up, the DTEK50.
“Google is evolving the Android platform fast, which allows Android players to remain at the cutting edge of smartphone technology,” said Gartner research directo Roberta Cozza.
“Facing a highly commoditised smartphone market, Google’s focus is to further expand and diversify the Android platform with additional functionalities, like virtual reality, enabling more-intelligent experiences and reach into wearables, connected home devices, in-car entertainment and TV.”
