Samsung maintained its lead as the dominant mobile-phone handset maker, helped by the release of new units, while Apple lost ground as consumers halted on purchases of iPhones.
Samsung’s market share climbed to 22.4% in the second quarter from 21.3% in the same period in 2015, according to data released by tech research group IDC. Apple’s share slipped to 11.8% from 13.9%.
At the same time, other phone makers such as Huawei, OPPO and vivo also gained market share, helped by sales in emerging markets such as in Indonesia and the Middle East.
Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers said that “the overall China market slowdown continues to ramp up competition in other high growth markets like India, Indonesia, and Middle East. Interestingly enough, our early findings show low-end Chinese OEMs that predominantly built their business domestically in China are having success penetrating non-China markets, despite low-end competition from local brands already in place.”
Samsung stayed in front and gained share thanks to strong Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge performance sales, IDC said. For Apple, the second quarter is seasonally its lowest of the year as consumers hold off on purchases in anticipation of the next big launch in the third quarter, it added.
Apple is reported to release its latest iteration of the iPhone as early as September.