Gartner‘s full mobile Q3 2015 sales numbers are in, and the identities of all the winners and losers should come as no shock to anybody the least bit familiar with recent market trends. Spurred by growing popularity in both China and Europe, Huawei managed to seize a generous 7.7 percent slice of the smartphone pie between July and September, up 2.5 points from the same period last year.
Clearly, double-digit global share is the next realistic target for the makers of the Mate S and Nexus 6P, especially if the latter model puts Huawei on the US map. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it‘s no wonder Lenovo‘s bleeding money all of a sudden, also looking for a mobile business reorganization, as Motorola‘s purchase proves a less than inspired call.
The two brands not only lost their combined final spot on the OEM podium from Q3 2014, but dropped a staggering 2.1 percent in market share, and close to 4 million in units shipped. Of course, Samsung and Apple retain gold and silver, with sales on the rise year-on-year, and similar stakes as 12 months ago ““ 23.7 and 13.1 percent respectively, compared to 23.9 and 12.5.
Needless to point out however that the early launches of the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ were supposed to widen the gap to Cupertino instead of narrowing it on the eve of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus commercial debuts. There are no big changes to report in the order of the most prevalent platforms around either, with Android and iOS incredibly enough surging further, to 84.7 and 13.1 percent respectively, and Windows Phone and BlackBerry slipping closer and closer to oblivion.
BB didn‘t even manage to sell a million handhelds worldwide in the three-month period, whereas Windows lost nearly half of its already microscopic Q3 2014 share, ending up with a pithy 1.7 percent this Q3, or less than six million copies sold. Ironically, Microsoft is still the third largest mobile phone seller on the globe, trumped only by Samsung and Apple when also adding feature devices, aka dumb phones, into the equation.
Source: Gartner
