Apple regained the top spot in the smartphone market, helped by the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, while rival Samsung Electronics grappled with the recall of its flagship Galaxy Note7 over overheating batteries, according to a research firm.
The iPhone maker shipped 78.3 million smartphones in the fourth quarter for a market share of 17.8 percent, compared with 77.5 million smartphones shipped by Samsung, which had a market share of 17.7 percent, Strategy Analytics said Tuesday.
For the full year, Samsung was the clear winner with shipments of 309.4 million smartphones to Apple’s 215.4 million, in part because Apple saw shipments of the iPhone drop in recent quarters.
Apple said earlier on Tuesday that it had sold more iPhones than ever before and set all-time revenue records for the device as well as the Mac, Apple Watch and its services business. For its fiscal 2017 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, Apple said iPhone shipments were up by about 5 percent by units from the same quarter in the previous year. Revenue from phones was up 5 percent year-on-year at around $54 billion.
The upside for Apple in the smartphone market going forward will be limited unless the company comes up with revolutionary new smartphone designs to address a market that is suffering iPhone fatigue, wrote Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, in an email.
