Record 1.4 Billion Smartphones Shipped in 2015

[Jeffrey]

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Global Smartphone shipments grew 12 percent and hit a record 1.4 billion devices in 2015, according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung, continues to lead the pack. Sammy shipped 81.3 million units worldwide in the fourth quarter, up 9% ( highest increase in the last two years) from Q4 2014. Apple, isn't doing too hot. They shipped 74.8 million iPhones in Q4, compared to the 74.5 million devices it sent out in 2014.

Huawei's two percent growth from 2014 is nothing to write home about. Huawei came in 3rd and Xiaomi in 5th place. Xiaomi shipped over 2 million more phones in 2015 compared to 2014's figures. It seems the only entry in the top five that shipped fewer units in 2015 is Lenovo-Motorola, whose growth rate has declined by 18 percent.

Check the chart below for actual shipped units and market share percentage.

 

[Jeffrey]

 

[liftedplane]

Samsung is quite handily handing apple their backsides. I'm a bit surprised Huawei is ahead of Moto so much.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I feel like Huawei definitely got some help with their numbers by making the Nexus 6P. I know personally that I was interested in the device not just because of the specs and the fact that it was a Nexus, but also because I was curious to see what Huawei would bring to the table.

The fact that they're making more of a push into the US now, I think, will help their numbers this year.

I'm guessing that the Moto X not being sold in carrier stores played a factor in Moto's numbers. Sure, they released a new Droid phone, but only die-hard fans like we have here on the forum upgraded to the Turbo 2 IMO. This past year was a shifting year for how cell "plans" worked and how folks buy devices. I like to think that Moto was ahead of the curve on this one, but I'm not sure their numbers will rebound if more OEMs don't get on the unlocked, not sold at carrier stores train. The average consumer that doesn't know and think the kinds of things that we here think is going to VZW, AT&T, etc. when it's time to get a new phone. Until the masses realize they can get a great phone with similar financing direct from the manufacturer, not selling in those stores can only hurt the bottom line.

Just my two cents.

 

[Mustang02]

I'm guessing that the Moto X not being sold in carrier stores played a factor in Moto's numbers.

Huh? Verizon sells the moto x and moto x 2014. Are you referring to the Moto x pure edition?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Huh? Verizon sells the moto x and moto x 2014. Are you referring to the Moto x pure edition?

Yes. My bad. In my head, I wrote "the new Moto X." Apparently, it didn't all come out the way I planned.

 

[kodiak799]

What will be interesting as phones become increasingly commoditized (Android) is if Apple will eventually have to drop their prices, as well.

That's the brilliance of the Apple strategy - users are pretty much locked-in to their ecosystem so there's no real competition to eat away at margins. The i-sheep have demonstrated repeatedly that they will pay a few hundred extra for Apple products - their only alternative is to leave IOS, and that's not a trivial undertaking.