Samsung shipped record 320M smartphones in 2013
Samsung shipped nearly 320 million smartphones in 2013, the largest ever in one year by a single vendor, according to new data released Monday.Overall, handset makers shipped a record 990 million smartphones worldwide in 2013, a 41 percent increase over the previous year, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. However, the 41 percent growth rate was a slight retreat from the record 43 percent recorded in 2012, due largely to heavy saturation in major markets such as the US, according to Strategy Analytics senior analyst Ken Hyers.The South Korean electronics giant captured 32.3 percent of the global smartphone market last year by shipping 319.8 million smartphones,more than twice the 15.5 percent market share held by No. 2 Apple during the same period. "Apple grew a sluggish 13 percent annually and shipped 153.4 million smartphones worldwide for 15 percent market share in 2013, dipping from the 19 percent level recorded in 2012," Neil Mawston, an executive director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement. "Apple remains strong in the high-end smartphone segment, but a lack of presence in the low-end category is costing it lost volumes in fast-growing emerging markets such as India."Apple revealed Monday that it sold 51 million iPhones during its fiscal first quarter, its most ever for a single quarter and a 6.7 percent increase over the 47.8 million it sold in the year-ago period.Huawei, LG, and Lenovo captured the remaining three spots in the top five for 2013, shipping 50.4 million smartphones (for a 5.1 percent market share), 47.6 million units (4.8 percent), and 45.5 million (4.6 percent), respectively. All other manufacturers combined for 373.3 million, Strategy Analytics found.
