Smartphones are set to overtake feature phone sales in 2013 based on stats from the final quarter of 2012, according to the figures from the respected industry analysts IDC.
Year on year the growth in total handset sales was solid, if not spectacular, with 482.5m sold in Q4 2012 compared to 473.4m in Q4 2011, an increase of just under 2%.
Smartphone sales growth
However, the real growth in the sophistication of handsets with Smartphone sales growing to 45.5% in Q4 2012 of all global shipments up from 39.5% in the same period in the previous year.
Added up over the full year Smartphone sales are an impressive 44.1% up on 2011 with 712.6m sold globally.
In terms of market share in Smartphones, Samsung is out in front with 29% share with Apple in second place with 21.8%. Again the real interest is in the relative growth figures, with Samsung showing an impressive increase in market share of 76% year on year while Apple’s market share fell from 23% in Q4 2011 to 21.8% in Q4 2012.
However, the overall growth in the Smartphone market saw Apple’s overall sales increase by 29.2% as consumers globally switched to more feature-rich devices, but this is dwarfed by Samsung’s stellar 76% growth over the same period, firmly establishing them as the leader in the mobile handset market.
The one to watch is Chinese firm Huawei who are now in 3rd position globally with a huge 89.5% increase year on year, helped by their strength in emerging markets and keen price points, even if their overall sales were just under 11m compared to the combined sales of Apple and Samsung at just over 110m.
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