279.4 million smartphones shipped in Q1 2014, representing growth of 29 percent compared to Q1 2013. 81 percent of these devices were running Android, with iOS and Windows Phone accounting for 16 percent and 3 percent respectively.
The latest figures come from Canalys, an independent analyst firm which noted that more than a third of these devices had 5-inch displays or larger. Here’s the picture the company painted:
Smartphones with 5″ and larger screens grew 369 percent, substantially faster than the overall market. The segment was largely dominated by Samsung, but other vendors, such as Lenovo, Huawei, LG, and Sony, also achieved significant volumes in the space.
“Consumers now expect high-end devices to have large displays, and Apple’s absence in this market will clearly not last long,” Canalys analyst Jessica Kwee said in a statement. “It is notable that 5″ and above displays featured on almost half (47 percent) of smart phones with an unlocked retail price of US$500 or more. Of the remaining 53 percent of high-end smart phones, 87 percent were iPhones. Apple plainly needs a larger-screen smart phone to remain competitive, and it will look to address this in the coming months.”
Overall, Samsung remained the leading vendor with a 31 percent share, ahead of Apple at 16 percent. That being said, half of the top 10 vendors were Chinese companies: Huawei (third), Lenovo (fourth), Xiaomi (sixth), Yulong (eighth), and ZTE (ninth).
Furthermore, China, the world’s largest smartphone market, accounted for 35 percent of shipments. This almost triple that of the US, which managed to capture just 12 percent of the worldwide smartphone market.
Yet it’s worth noting that these Chinese smartphone makers are not interested in only selling locally. ZTE, Huawei, and Lenovo shipped 43 percent, 40 percent, and 15 percent of their respective handsets outside of China. Samsung may still be the leading vendor in the country with 18 percent share, but the Chinese competition is already expanding abroad.
Top Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
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