Small and Smart

 

According to market research firm IDC, the global smart phone shipments increased by 11.6 percent year-on-year to 337 million units in the second quarter of this year. The increment was the second-highest since the release of the first smartphone in the world.

Such rapid growth can be attributed to small smartphone manufacturers and the lowered entry barriers in the industry. At present, hundreds of them have a combined market share of 45.2 percent, and this is more than double that of Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker. Most of them are Chinese companies, and the number is estimated at around 200. In the second quarter, Samsung Electronics and Apple, the runner-up, accounted for 35.8 percent of the market together.

Small firms are continuing to grow in the tablet PC market, too. According to IDC, Apple supplied 10.9 million tablet PCs and recorded a market share of 25.5 percent in the second quarter of this year, with the figures decreasing by 17.9 percent and 3.2 percentage points from a year ago, respectively.

Samsung Electronics supplied 7.6 million tablet PCs and took up 17 percent of the market during the same period, showing 12 percent and 1 percentage point declines year-on-year as well. Meanwhile, Lenovo sold 2.5 million tablet PCs and boosted its market share from 2.4 percent to 5.7 percent. It was followed by Huawei and LG Electronics, which sold approximately 1.6 million units each. Huawei increased its share from 0.8 percent to 3.7 percent to join the ranks of the top five for the first time, and LG Electronics’ market share jumped from 1 percent to 3.6 percent.

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