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Apple now ships more smartphones than Samsung, if you ask Gartner
When we last checked in on the battle for the top spot in the smartphone market, Apple and Samsung were neck and neck. If you ask Gartner, though, it isn't quite so evenly matched. The analyst group estimates that Apple managed to edge past Samsung in the fourth quarter of 2014, shipping 74.8 million phones to Samsung's 73 million. That isn't exactly a cavernous gap, but it's been a long time since any research firm unambiguously declared Apple the biggest vendor -- over three years, if you're wondering. Having said this, the changing of the guard isn't completely surprising. Apple had two brand new iPhones in the fall to goose its sales, while Samsung was grappling with both surging Chinese competitors (including chart rivals Lenovo, Huawei and Xiaomi) and a flagship phone that was getting long in the tooth.
In 2011, Gartner made this hilarious prediction about the iPhone
It's 2015, which means that every analyst that said "By 2015...." in the past decade needs a fact check. Let's start with this delicious little nugget from the soothsayers at Gartner, shall we? According to Gartner's 2011 report, which aimed to forecast the next four years of the smartphone market, the following is supposed to be true as of today: Android will be the #1 mobile operating system. - True. Congrats. Android will command a 48.8% market share. - False, 84.4%. Not even close, really. iOS will hold a 17.2% share of the market. - False, 11.7%. Closer-ish? Research In Motion (BlackBerry) will hold 11.1% of the market. - False, 0.5%. Research In Motion doesn't even officially exist anymore, so that's another mark against them. This one might be the most outlandish of all, in hindsight. And this one is my favorite: Microsoft will the be #2 smartphone maker thanks to its Nokia deal, with 19.5% of the market, beating iPhone. - False, 2.9%. Nowhere near Apple. The only thing Gartner's analysts had correct was that Android would have a comfortable lead in overall smartphone market share, and even that prediction was wildly out of whack. It's remarkable that a research firm can be this wrong and yet still be relied upon for their analysis. Note: The data used for comparison comes from the Q3 2014 figures by IDC, so the numbers may be somewhat different today, but certainly not enough to hold any of these false predictions remotely true. Big hat-tip to Terence! Thanks!
Gartner: Smartphone sales up 20 percent, Xiaomi kicks LG out of the top 5
Reports on the meteoric rise of smartphones are beginning to sound like broken records, but there aren't any signs of that growth stopping anytime soon. Case in point: Gartner's latest stats show that smartphones sales jumped 20 percent to reach 301 million units in the third quarter. And yes, that jump came at the expense of feature phones sales, which fell by 25 percent. No surprises there, but the smartphone growth did lead to some intriguing movement among the top five smartphone vendors. Xiaomi joined the prestigious group for the first time, kicking out LG in the process. Samsung is still king of the hill, but its smartphone sales fell another eight percentage points in the quarter, leaving it with just 24.4 percent of the market.
Apple is now the fifth-largest PC maker in the world, if you ask IDC
Apple is historically a small player in the PC world compared to many of its peers, but it may have just entered the big leagues. IDC estimates that the company jumped to 6.3 percent market share in the third quarter of the year, making it the fifth-largest PC builder worldwide -- a feat it hasn't managed in decades. It's still no major threat to heavy-hitters such as Lenovo (20 percent), HP (18.8 percent) and Dell (13.3 percent), but IDC believes that a combination of slight price cuts and improved demand in "mature" markets like North America have helped it grow in a computer market that's still shrinking.
PC shipments appear to flatten out after two years of steep decline
Both Gartner and IDC appear to have some good news for the PC industry -- the seemingly never-ending death spiral may have come to an end. While the two research groups don't agree completely on the numbers, it does appear that after two years of stead and sizable declines, the PC industry is seeing shipments flatten out. In total, according to Gartner, 75.8 million computers were shipped in the second quarter of 2014, a negligible 0.1 percent drop from the same quarter a year ago. While IDC saw a much more sizable 1.7 percent fall in PC shipments, that's still a far cry from the 7.1 percent decline it anticipated and the smallest it's measured in two years.
Death of Windows XP can't quite reverse slowing PC sales
The official end to Windows XP support may have sent many companies into a panic, but it was good news for PC manufacturers this winter... well, sort of. Both Gartner and IDC report a big increase in PC shipments during the first quarter thanks to companies scrambling to replace old XP computers at the last possible moment. However, the two analyst groups note that the sudden spike only managed to soften ongoing declines in PC shipments, rather than reverse them. Depending on which research firm you ask, the number of PCs on the market dropped between 1.7 percent to 4.4 percent year-over-year. That's better than what system builders have seen over most of the past two years, but it's not exactly a recovery.
Gartner: Android passes iOS to become the most popular tablet platform
Several years ago, technology research firm Gartner predicted Apple would maintain its hold on the tablet market until 2015. A new study from the company, however, shows Android taking a decisive lead: in 2013, it boasted 62-percent market share, compared to 36 percent for iOS. Google's mobile operating system climbed to the number one position thanks to more tablet sales overall, though Gartner also credits the proliferation of cheaper, smaller-screen slates (the Nexus 7 no doubt included) with establishing Android's newfound dominance. The other winner, according to this study: Samsung, which grew by 336 percent in 2013 to a 19.1-percent share of the tablet market. That's still a much smaller piece of the pie than Apple's 36 percent, but among Android device makers the Korean company is still very much the king. Conversely, Microsoft has seen very modest growth; Windows 8 tablets accounted for just 2.1 percent of the market in 2013. Click through the source link for more stats.
Daily Update for January 10, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Gartner: PC shipments have dropped 6.9 percent in Q4 2013, emerging markets to blame
Those tumbling PC shipments we've seen all year? They add up to a 6.9 percent year-over-year drop compared to 2012's Q4 numbers, according to Gartner. The group's latest totals puts PC shipments at 82.6 million units for Q4 2013, with the lions share coming from HP and Lenovo - though only the latter managed to grow its business during that period. Dell came in at a distant third, moving 4 million fewer machines than HP while maintaing a 6.2 percent increases in shipments since Q4 2012. The news seems grim for all but a select free companies, but at least it won't get any worse: Gartner says that most markets have bottomed out, and the losses mostly come from emerging Asia/Pacific markets where consumers first computing devices are typically smartphones and tablets, not traditional PCs. Despite predictions that the US market has reached its lowest point, analysts note that holiday sales were primarily dominated by tablets and mobile devices, though optimistically note that hybrid devices and lower cost notebooks could spur some growth in 2014. Eager to dive into all the nitty gritty numbers? Hit the source link below for Gartner's full report.
Android powers four in every five smartphones thanks to growth in China
Gartner's third-quarter smartphone research report is out, and on the surface it paints a very flattering portrait for Google. Mirroring Strategy Analytics' report at the end of last month, Gartner also estimates that Android has crossed the symbolic 80 percent mark, reaching 81.9 percent of smartphone shipments in the last quarter, a 9.3 percent rise from last year. In comparison, analysts believe sales of Apple smartphones dropped 2.2 percentage points over the year to hold 12.1 percent of the smartphone market. Microsoft continued to take small steps to boost its market share, with Nokia's strong US sales helping Windows Phone grow to 3.6 percent of the market. Lenovo's impressive run of smartphone sales helped it almost silently climb to number three, leapfrogging LG in the process.
Has the iPad killed PC growth?
The iPad can do a lot of what we traditionally use our computers for, so it stands to reason that some folks would see their tablet as a suitable stand-in for a new PC. According to sales data from Gartner, Apple's tablet may have utterly crushed the growth of PC shipments worldwide. The data -- which is presented in graph form, courtesy of Statista -- appears to indicate that consumers are going with tablets rather than full-fledged computers, as the PC market is actually shrinking. However, there's likely a lot more to this than simply the release of Apple's now iconic tablet. Yes, the iPad has certainly replaced a few PCs out there, but devices like smartphones and other, non-iPad tablets have done so, too. Overall, portable devices are more capable now than ever before, and for individuals who only used their home computers for email or web browsing, something as simple as a smartphone could get the job done. I'm sure Apple would love to be able to claim that its tablet has been successful enough to singlehandedly damage sales of an entire category of devices, but in truth this shift is almost certainly a much larger one toward mobile gadgets in general.
Gartner and IDC: PC shipments continued to slide in Q3, but the worst may be over
The PC market has been on the decline for the past year, but there are new hints that the situation is improving -- if only slightly. Both Gartner (shown here) and IDC estimate that worldwide computer shipments dropped roughly eight percent year-over-year in the third quarter. While that's not exactly comforting to vendors, it's better than the double-digit losses of the past several months; the analyst groups even saw flat or positive growth in countries like Japan and the US. Any further declines in some regions may be relatively gentle, Gartner says. As for who's out in front? Heavyweights like Lenovo, HP and Dell grew thanks to improving business sales and some advance shipments of Windows 8.1 PCs. Acer and ASUS, meanwhile, were dealt the worst blow as their netbook sales continued to suffer from the rise of mobile OS tablets. Neither Gartner nor IDC is predicting a turnaround for the industry, but they suggest that PC builders are finally figuring out their places in a world where mobile devices rule.
Gartner: Android gained five percent at the expense of iOS in Q2, Samsung jumped 9 percent
As smartphone sales stayed well ahead of feature phones with 225 million sold in Q2 2013, Android was by far the greatest beneficiary, according to stat analyst Gartner. That OS lept from a 74.4 percent share in Q1 2013 to 79 percent, while iOS declined sharply from 18.2 to 14.2 percent. Samsung helped that along by moving 6.4 million more smartphones this quarter than last, while Apple sold 6.6 million less over Q1 2013. Of course, Samsung has a wide range of inexpensive devices that still fall into the "smart" category, which may explain why Apple is rumored to be launching a more budget-oriented iPhone. Meanwhile, there's further evidence of a BlackBerry decline (as if more were needed), as Gartner's stats now have Microsoft's Windows Phone well ahead. Last quarter, BlackBerry's OS share was larger by a hair, but Redmond's OSes gained significantly in Q2 with a 3.3 percent share compared to 2.7 percent for Waterloo. Another notable stat had Lenovo elbowing Huawei and ZTE down the chart for a fourth place finish in smartphone sales -- quite a feat, considering that unlike its rivals, Lenovo sells almost all its handsets in China.
Gartner and IDC: PC shipments dropped about 11 percent in Q2
If you were looking for a bounce-back in the PC market after a sobering first quarter... well, keep looking. Both Gartner and IDC estimate that shipments fell about 11 percent year-over-year in the second quarter. The two analyst groups blame the decline on sluggish uptake in a few regions, most notably China and Europe, as well as a market that favors tablets over low-end computers. It's easy to agree after seeing the numbers. Taiwanese PC makers like Acer and ASUS faced steep yearly declines as they switched their attention toward tablets and Ultrabooks, while even top-seated Lenovo took a small bruising. There's a silver lining to this cloud, however. Dell, HP and Lenovo all fared much better in the US than they have in recent quarters. Gartner and IDC attribute the resurgence to the corporate world, where the end of Windows XP support in 2014 may be pushing some upgrades to PCs running at least Windows 7. It's not quite the broader recovery that vendors are hoping for, but it may have to suffice when any help from Windows 8.1 and OS X Mavericks is months away.
Gartner: Android and Samsung dominate the phone market in Q1
If you've been following the trends, Gartner's mobile phone market figures for the first quarter of 2013 won't surprise. The research firm estimates that Android was on 74.4 percent of all smartphones sold in the period, with Samsung the key beneficiary of such dominance. While the Korean behemoth doesn't release solid sales figures, Gartner believes its market-flooding strategy has paid off, topping the league with 30.8 percent market share -- Apple has a firm grip on second place, with 18.2 percent, which is well ahead of LG, which has 4.8 percent. Samsung is also king of the mobile phone space, owning 23.6 percent of the market, ahead of Nokia, which has fallen to 14.8 percent share. Gartner's research also found that feature phone sales are slowing, so we guess that it's only a matter of time before the humble candybar goes the way of the netbook.
IDC: Mac shipments down. Gartner: Mac shipments up.
It must be tough to be a market research firm these days. IDC released preliminary information of PC shipments for the first calendar quarter of 2013 today, showing the market to be dismal with an overall decline in PC shipments of almost 13 percent in the US year-over-year and Mac shipments apparently down 7.5 percent in the same period. On the other hand, Gartner's figures -- also released today -- show an 9.6 percent year-over-year decline in the US PC market, and shipments of Macs actually growing 7.4 percent in the same period. With Apple's fiscal second quarter earnings report coming up in less than two weeks, the conflicting numbers are sure to make financial analysts reach for the bottle of Jim Beam hidden in a desk drawer. As if the numbers from IDC and Gartner weren't perplexing enough, 9to5Mac points out that NPD Group's numbers show sales (not shipments) of Macs jumping a whopping 14 percent. Who's right? We'll all have to wait until the afternoon of April 23 to see the actual numbers from Apple. If history repeats itself once again, we're sure to see stellar numbers from Apple for most product lines, followed by a precipitous drop in AAPL's share price. You can join us for all the fun during our regular earnings call liveblog at 5 PM ET on April 23, 2013.
Gartner: half of smartphones sold are Apple or Samsung, Huawei third for the first time
We saw last quarter that while mobile phone buyers were on the decline in general, smartphone sales were way, way up. That's how 2012 finished off as well according to Gartner, with cellphone purchases down 1.7 percent overall from 2011, but sales of higher-IQ models up 38.3 percent year-on-year. Samsung and Apple fared particularly well in the latter category for Q4 2012, making up over 52 percent of smartphones sold compared to 46 percent in Q3. Meanwhile, being embroiled in the odd security row didn't stop upstart Huawei from hitting the smartphone podium for the first time with 27.2 million handsets sold in Q4 2012, a 73.8 percent jump over last year -- but a distant third behind Samsung's 64.5 million units and 43.5 million for Apple. Meanwhile, Nokia dropped 53.6 percent from last year with 39.3 million units sold, though it's likely too soon to tell whether WP8 will boost it anew. Speaking of Redmond's Windows Phone ecosystem, it grew a modest 1.2 percent in Q4 to grab 3 percent of the market just behind BlackBerry, which tumbled 44.4 percent but stayed in third spot on 3.5 percent of devices. With new products now in the market, the two OSes will likely see a protracted battle for third spot over the next year, according to the survey outfit. Android widened its margin to control a whopping 69.7 percent share of the smartphone OS market compared to 20.9 percent for iOS, a bump of 87.8 percent over the quarter. Otherwise, your Badas, Symbians and others are battling for scraps, and will soon have certain new Linux-based predators to watch out for, to boot.
Gartner report finds Samsung topped Apple as biggest chip buyer in 2012
They were neck and neck in 2011, spending 18.6 and 18.8 billion on semiconductors worldwide, but a new Gartner report out today finds that Samsung has pulled ahead of Apple as the world's biggest chip buyer by a decent margin. According to the research group, Samsung's chip purchases shot up nearly 29 percent to $23.9 billion in 2012, or 8 percent of the worldwide market, while Apple's purchases rose 13.6 percent to $21.4 billion, or a share of 7.2 percent. Doing that math, that means the two companies account for over 15 percent of worldwide semiconductor purchases (or more than $45 billion), with each well ahead of runners-up HP, Dell and Sony, who stood at shares of 4.7, 2.9 and 2.7 percent for the year. Despite the significant growth of those two leaders, though, overall semiconductor purchases actually dropped three percent in 2012 to a total of $297.6 billion. The biggest decline among the top ten companies? That would be Nokia, which fell from fifth to tenth place with chip purchases dropping a whopping 42.6 percent to five billion, compared to 8.6 billion in 2011.
Gartner contradicts IDC, says Mac shipments up in Q4 2012
Last week, IDC estimated that Apple's sales of Macs in the holiday quarter of 2012 were down 0.2 percent year over year. Today, Gartner released contradictory numbers showing an actual growth rate of 5.4 percent from the previous year. The entire PC market showed a slump in sales from 2011, with numbers pointing to a 4.9 percent drop worldwide for all PCs sold during the quarter. Apple was third in terms of US PC sales in the Gartner ratings, behind HP -- which surprisingly saw a 12.6 percent rise in Q4 2012 in sales year over year -- and Dell, which took a 16.5 percent hit on sales in 2012. Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa believes that tablets are having a profound effect on PC sales, "not so much by "cannibalizing" PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs. Whereas as once we imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC." All will be revealed next Wednesday on Apple's fiscal first quarter 2013 earnings call. TUAW will be providing a liveblog of the call beginning at 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT on January 23. [via The Loop]
Gartner: PC sales continue to slide as tablets eat their lunch
PC shipments are still heading the wrong way down the gadget freeway, according to Gartner, who thinks that we're now consuming media mostly on tablets and just flitting over to the PC for grunt work. The survey outfit theorized that a single shared computer can often suffice for a family, with individuals getting their own tablet instead of a laptop or desktop for personal stuff -- especially with compelling, inexpensive new entries like the Nexus 7. Gift-givers were less inclined to wrap up PCs this Christmas, and Windows 8 didn't give them much of a boost either, according to the figures. The only companies with anything to celebrate during the period were Lenovo and Asus, who experienced 8.2 and 6.4 percent boosts respectively, reflecting another trend that competitors like HP and Dell will want to nip in the bud -- and fast.
