Android Big Winner, Windows Big Loser, in Q2 Smartphone Sales, Says Gartner

Global sales of smartphones to end users jumped 4.3 percent in Q2 to 344.4 million units, from 330.3 million in Q2 a year earlier, Gartner said in a Thursday report. Demand for premium smartphones slowed in Q2 “as consumers wait for new hardware launches in the second half of the year," said the research firm. All “mature markets” except Japan had declining demand for smartphones, but all “emerging regions” except Latin America had growth, the company said. Q2 was an especially poor quarter for Apple, whose iPhone sales declined 7.7 percent globally, including a 26 percent decrease in China and mature Asia Pacific regions, it said. Market leader Samsung increased its Q2 share to 22.3 percent from 21.8 percent in Q2 a year earlier, while Apple’s share fell to 12.9 percent from 14.6 percent, Gartner said. For operating systems, Android increased its share to 86.2 percent from 82.2 percent, and the share of iOS devices fell to 12.9 percent from 14.6 percent, it said. Windows devices were the big Q2 losers, as their share plummeted to 0.6 percent from 2.5 percent, it said.