Worldwide smartphone shipments exceeds 1.3 billion units for 2014: Report


The global smartphone shipments surpassed 1.3 billion units in the year 2014, as per a latest report from IDC. The research firm had predicted in 2013 that smartphone shipments will cross the 1 billion unit milestone.

IDC 2014 smartphone shipment

According to the IDC report, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 375.2 million units during the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14), resulting in 28.2% growth when compared to the 292.7 million units shipped in 4Q13 and 11.9% sequential growth above the 335.3 million units shipped in 3Q14. For the full year, the worldwide smartphone market saw a total of 1,301.1 million units shipped, up 27.6% from the 1,019.4 million units shipped in 2013.

“That the worldwide smartphone market grew by 27.6% in 2014 is noteworthy, but it also represents a significant slowdown compared to 2013. Mature markets have become increasingly dependent on replacement purchases rather than first-time buyers, which has contributed to slower growth. In emerging markets, first-time buyers continue to provide a lot of market momentum, but the focus has shifted toward low-cost devices, creating a different dynamic for both global and local vendors. What remains to be seen is how the vendors beyond Samsung and Apple will assert themselves. With Lenovo acquiring Motorola, and Xiaomi having greater aspirations beyond China, the competitive pressure will come more from below and less from above. This will make the smartphone race continuously competitive as 2015 shapes up.”

said Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team.

Apple reduced the gap by 600,000 units with Samsung in Q4, 2014 thanks to the success of its newly launched larger iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Despite being far more profitable for quite some time. The report said that if Apple continues the same success and Samsung keeps facing the challenges by  ncreasing number of low-cost Android OEMs, Apple can overtake Samsung this year. In order for Samsung to regain its share at the top, it will either have to accept lower margins from here forward or revamp its high-end strategy to compete with Apple.

Giving insight about vendor sales, the report stated that Samsung continued to be the leader in Q4 2014 with 75.1 million sales followed by Apple at 74.5 million units. Lenovo came in third with 24.7 million units while Huawei and Xiaomi received fourth and fifth spot with 23.5 million units and 16.6 million units respectively.


Author: Sneha Bokil

Sneha Bokil is a tech enthusiast and is currently using OnePlus 3T but she still treasures her Nokia N70 (M). You can follow her on Twitter @snehabokil and on Google+