Smartphone Industry Passed 1 Billion Units Shipped in 2013, IDC Says

The smartphone market hit the 1-billion-shipment mark for the first time in 2013, said an International Data Corp. tracking report. Just more than a billion smartphones shipped worldwide, an increase of 38 percent from 725.3 million units shipped in 2012, it said. Smartphones were 55 percent of all mobile phone shipments last year, up from the 41.7 percent in 2012, IDC said. In Q4, vendors shipped 284.4 million smartphones worldwide, up 24 percent from the 229 million units shipped the year-ago quarter.

Trends driving smartphone growth are large screen devices and low cost, said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Dropping prices has been the difference maker in rising smartphone sales, he said. “Cheap devices are not the attractive segment that normally grabs headlines,” but markets including China and India are “quickly moving toward a point where sub-$150 smartphones are the majority of shipments, bringing a solid computing experience to the hands of many,” Reith said.

Samsung ended the quarter where it began the year: as the “clear leader” with 82 million smartphones shipped, IDC said. Samsung, however, experienced a sequential decline in Q4 despite sustained demand for its Galaxy S III, S4, and Note models, and a “deep selection” of mid-range and entry-level models. Samsung ended the year with 31 percent market share versus Apple’s 15.3 percent, IDC said.

Apple, at No. 2, posted record shipment volume in Q4 (51 million units) fueled by the availability of the iPhone 5s and 5c in more countries, along with sustained demand from existing markets. But Apple had the lowest year-over-year increase of all top vendors at 6.7 percent, IDC said. With Apple’s having recently arrived at China Mobile, “it remains to be seen how much Apple will close the gap against Samsung in 2014,” IDC said.

Huawei held its No. 3 ranking worldwide with 16.4 million smartphones shipped in Q4, and had the highest year-over-year increase (57 percent) among the top vendors, IDC said. The company raised its brand profile with a higher proportion of self-branded units versus its business as an ODM supplier, IDC said. But Huawei faces a “crowded group of potential competitors within striking distance,” said the research. Despite having no smartphone presence in North America or Western Europe, Lenovo was the No. 4 smartphone supplier worldwide in Q4 (13.9 million units) due to its strong presence in key emerging markets and a “well-segmented product portfolio” ranging from simple, affordable models to full-featured ones. Lenovo could challenge Huawei for the No. 3 spot this year if it’s able to expand into more developed markets, IDC said.

LG edged out ZTE for the No. 5 spot, coming in just behind Lenovo with 13.2 million units shipped, IDC said. LG’s 53.2 percent year-over-year improvement put the company on par with Huawei and Lenovo in terms of growth in Q4, IDC said, due to a “revived portfolio” featuring larger screen sizes and higher-end models including the Nexus 5 and its Optimus G series.