Global smartphone shipments total 337.2 million units in Q2 2015, an 11.6% Y-o-Y increase driven by robust growth in many emerging markets as Apple manages to snag some market share from current leader Samsung.
On the other hand overall mobile phone shipments (feature phones + smartphones) drop by -0.4% Y-o-Y to 464.6m units.
"The overall growth of the smartphone market was not only driven by the success of premium flagship devices from Samsung, Apple, and others, but more importantly by the abundance of affordable handsets that continue to drive shipments in many key markets," the analyst says. "As feature phone shipments continue to decrease, vendors will continue to attack both emerging and developed markets with competitive smartphones that are both rich in features and low in price."
IDC points out the smartphone market is become increasingly diverse, not to mention competitive-- while Apple and Samsung jostle in the top tier, many other brands continue to appear in the middle and lower tiers (over 200 according to the analyst), with most having a regional or even single-country focus.
In the vendor rankings Samsung sees market share and shipment declines, even if it remains on top. As such Samsung Q2 2015 is 21.7% (down from 24.8% in Q2 2014), while shipments are down by -2.3% Y-o-Y due to "mixed" Galaxy S5 and S6 edge results.
As mentioned earlier Apple follows with shipments reaching 47.5m units (a 34.9% Y-o-Y increase) and market share reaching 14.1% thanks to rapid expansion across Asia/Pacific, particularly in the all important Chinese market.
Huawei takes over 3rd place through strong European and domestic sales of mid-range and high-end models. Xiaomi and Lenovo follow, making for a China-dominated Q2 2015 top 5.
