iPhone or Android: The fourth quarter of 2017 saw the first drop in smartphone sales since 2004, as the device sales of its two largest companies market Samsung and Apple declined late last year.
The data provided by Gartner show that total smartphone sales in Q4 (fourth quarter) declined by 5,6% over the same period last year. The numbers show lower performances by Apple and Samsung, while Huawei and Xiaomi showed stronger returns.
Samsung released just over 74 millions Appliances during Q4 2017, from 76,7 million devices shipped in Q4 2016, a decrease of 3,6%.
But despite the fall, Samsung still has a market share that reaches 18,2%, from 17,8% that was 2016.
Apple had with 73,1 millions of sales, showing a tremendous decline from at least 77 million devices released in the same quarter last year. Apple's market share is currently at 17,9%.
What is more worrying for Apple, however, is that iPhone sales have declined and the Gartner reports that the company's flagship was down at least 5%.
"Apple was in a different position this quarter than it was 12 months ago. "It launched three new smartphones - the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X - but its quarterly performance was overshadowed by two factors," said Anshul Gupta, Gartner's research director.
"First, the later availability of the iPhone X led to slow upgrades to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, as users waited to try out the more expensive model. Second, market shortages and capacity constraints led to a large supply cycle for the iPhone X, which returned to normal in early December 2017. We expect better demand for the iPhone X to boost Apple sales by in the first quarter of 2018. ”
Huawei, on the other hand, is now at 10,8%, after selling 43,8 million units, from 40,8 million last year, while in Xiaomi's case, growth was impressive: 28,1 million devices versus 15,7 million last year.
