Samsung continues to dominate the smartphone market, but Apple could see a resurgence with the introduction of its new iPhone model expected later this year. That’s the latest from Gartner, which today released a report on worldwide mobile phone sales.
“High-profile smartphone launches from key manufacturers such as the anticipated Apple iPhone 5, along with Chinese manufacturers pushing 3G and preparing for major device launches in the second half of 2012, will drive the smartphone market upward. However, feature phones will continue to see pressure,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
According to the report, Samsung’s total mobile phone sales (including smartphones) was up 29.5 percent from the second quarter of 2011, driven in part by record sales of Galaxy smartphones. According to the report, smartphones now account for 50.4 percent of all Samsung mobile devices.
In the second quarter of 2012, consumer demand for the Apple iPhone weakened as sales fell 12.6 percent from the first quarter of 2012, but grew 47.4 percent year on year, the report said.
“Samsung and Apple continued to dominate the smartphone market, together taking about half the market share, and widening the gap to other manufacturers. No other smartphone vendors had share close to 10 percent,” Anshul said. “In the race to be top smartphone manufacturer in 2012, Samsung has consistently increased its lead over Apple, and its open OS market share increased to one-and-a-half times that of Apple in the second quarter of 2012.”
Here’s a look at the marketshare by operating system:
