Samsung has extended its lead in the worldwide smartphone market over Apple in the second quarter of this year, due to better-than-expected Galaxy S7 sales, according to two separate reports.
Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) said that Samsung delivered 77 million smartphones in Q2, up 5.5% from a year ago, for a market share of 22.4%, compared with a 15% decline in sales for Apple's iPhones.
Apple shipped 40.4 million units in Q2, which was the lowest quarterly volume in seven quarters, despite the mid-cycle introduction of the iPhone SE.
Huawei stood at third place, with a 9.4% market share, catching up to Apple's 11.8% share.
Oppo and Vivo stood at fourth and fifth places, with 6.6% and 4.8% market share, respectively.
Overall, the global smartphone market remained flat, increasing just 0.3% year-on-year in the second quarter to 343.3 million units, according to preliminary results from IDC.
The market did however show greater sequential growth, as shipments were up 3.1% compared to the first quarter of 2016.
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IDC mobile phones team research manager Anthony Scarsella said: "Outside of Samsung's Galaxy S7 flagship, a majority of vendors, including Apple, have found success with more affordable models compared to their flagship handsets.
"As smartphone prices continue to drop and competition escalates at the high-end, vendors will need to continue to push 'flagship-type' devices at affordable price points to encourage upgrading on a more frequent basis.”
A separate survey by Strategy Analytics had a similar estimate, with Samsung taking a lead with 22.8% market share. Apple and Huawei stood at second and third places with 11.9% and 9.4% market shares, respectively.
Global smartphone shipments increased 1% annually to reach 340 million units in Q2.
Strategy Analytics director Linda Sui said: “Smartphone growth has slowed due to increasing penetration maturity in major markets like China and uncertainty surrounding major political events such as the Brexit EU referendum result.
“However, there are emerging signs that the global smartphone market has reached a bottom in the first half of 2016, and the growth outlook for the second half of this year is brighter due to multiple big new product launches from Samsung, Apple and others.”
