The Samsung disaster with the launch, withdrawal and interruption of the Galaxy Note 7 is taking its toll on the South Korean company, which, although it remains the leading manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, its share in this market has been significantly reduced during the third quarter of 2016.
According to the latest report published by the IDC consultancy, Samsung's share of the global smartphone market has dropped to almost two years agos. Specifically, Samsung's market share has fallen from 23,5% in the third quarter of 2015 to 20% in the third quarter of 2016, very close to the 19,9% it held during the fourth quarter of 2014.
Samsung sells 11,3 million fewer smartphones
In absolute terms, between July and September 2016 Samsung sold 13,5% fewer smartphones going from 83,8 million in the same period of the previous year to 72,5 million.
The Galaxy Note 7 effect has not yet been seen in its fullness
And although at first glance everything suggests that this decrease is due to the Galaxy Note 7 disaster, this is not true, at least not entirely, and at least not for now.
The impact of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and its tremendous battery problem would have only been partial since the withdrawal and replacement took place at the beginning of September and these figures only reach until the 26th of that month. According to analysts, the impact of these events on Samsung's financial results and on its global market share will be greater during the fourth quarter that is already underway, since it will affect this period in its entirety, while during the third trimester has only affected for two - three weeks.
Apple, the great beneficiary of the fall of Samsung?
Meanwhile, it seems that its biggest competitor, Apple would be benefiting from this situation, despite the fact that its sales have also been reduced. Apple maintains the second position with a 12,5% share of the world market (compared to 13,4% in the same period of the previous year), with sales of 45,5 million iPhones compared to 48 million iPhones sold in the third quarter of 2015. Thus, the fall amounts to 5,3%.
But the proximity of the Christmas holidays and its inseparable consumer fever, together with the bad memory left by Samsung among its users, could still benefit Apple more and especially the sales of its iPhone 7 Plus model, which is supposed to be an immediate rival to the missing Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Chinese manufacturers stomp
The third, fourth and fifth positions in this ranking are occupied by the Chinese manufacturers Huawei, OPPO and Vivo with a 9,3%, 7% and 5,8% market share respectively for this period of the third quarter of 2016.
It is especially striking for Huawei that in just one year, it has managed to increase its global market share by 23%, increasing its sales from 27,3 million units sold in the third quarter of 2015, to 33,6 million of units sold during the same period of year 206, thus raising its world market share from 7,6% to 9,3%, thus rapidly approaching Apple.
A brief look at the immediate future of the global smartphone market
The immediate future outlook for the smartphone sector is challenging. On the one hand, the market is saturated. During the third quarter of 2016 it has only experienced a growth of 1% with 359,3 million units sold in total.
On the other hand, the growth of these Chinese manufacturers is still very limited and to a large extent will depend on their introduction in the markets of the United States and Europe, something that could give them the necessary boost to even surpass Samsung and Apple with devices. of very varied ranges, from the low to the most premium and, in general, offering high-quality terminals at much more competitive prices than the first two firms.