Samsung topped the global smartphone market share tables in five out of six regions for the third quarter of 2016. The South Korean conglomerate was the number one smartphone seller for the Asian, Latin American, European, Middle East / Africa regions; the company was the second largest seller for the American market behind Apple. The data was compiled by Counterpoint Research and the company also explained that Samsung’s lead has been eroded by some Chinese manufacturers in the Asian market, such as OPPO. In the Asian region, Samsung claimed 12.1% of the market share, a tie with OPPO. Third place went to Vivo, another Chinese manufacturer and claiming 10.4% market share, closely followed by Huawei at 9.8%. Apple was the fifth largest smartphone seller at 8.7%. Counterpoint Research’s data showed that both the Samsung Galaxy S7 family of devices and the lower to mid-range Samsung Galaxy J-series of devices sold well during the period. Samsung remains the clear market leader in the European, Latin American and Middle East / African regions with “a big gap” to the runner up competitor.
Samsung’s strong presence in these regions includes the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, back in August 2016. It is not clear how the sale and subsequent withdrawal of three million Galaxy Note 7 devices, because of a battery failure, in the third and fourth quarter will impact the fourth quarter sales figures. We will likely need to wait until close to the end of Q1 2017 before Q4 2016 sales figures are released. However, in the context of global shipment numbers, three million is not significant but the industry is fighting in a very competitive battle and Samsung were expecting to sell many more Galaxy Note 7 devices in the run up to the end of 2016. Q4 2016 market share figures may also show some of the impact on consumer confidence because of the failure of the Galaxy Note 7 device. Meanwhile, sales of the the Apple iPhone will be buoyed by the fourth quarter as many customers are unable to upgrade to the new devices in September because Apple suffer from supply shortages and are unable to get enough devices to customers in the weeks surrounding the September launch. We are expecting further jostling for position when the next global market share figures are released.