Besides the fiasco that surrounded its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, Samsung still rules the roost in the market.
This is according to IDC's latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, which notes vendors shipped a total of 362.9 million smartphones worldwide in the third quarter of 2016 (3Q16).
Despite the recall of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, IDC says volumes were up 1% compared to 3Q15 when vendors shipped 359.3 million units. Sequentially, shipments grew 5.3% from 344.7 million in the second quarter of 2016. IDC's totals for Samsung exclude Galaxy Note 7 shipments for both recalled and unsold devices in 3Q16.
The market analyst firm says the continued success of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge helped maintain volumes in 3Q16 despite the recall and negative publicity of the Note 7 fiasco.
Outside of Samsung's flagship S7, the more affordable J-series of devices continued to steadily drive volume in both developed and emerging markets with flagship-styled devices across various price points and display sizes, says IDC.
Samsung will need to put the Note series to rest as quickly as possible and look to its S7/S7e to captain the ship and keep Samsung users on board for the long haul, it adds.
"Samsung's market dominance in the third quarter was unchallenged in the short term even with this high-profile Galaxy Note 7 recall, but the longer term impact on the Samsung brand remains to be seen," says Melissa Chau, IDC's associate research director for mobile devices.
"If the first recall was a stumble for Samsung, the second recall of replacement devices face-planted the Note series. In a market that is otherwise maturing, Christmas has come early for vendors looking to capitalise with large-screened flagship alternatives like the Apple iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel."
"With Samsung's Note 7 finally laid to rest, both Samsung and other vendors will need to invest both time and money into properly testing devices to avoid a future incident of this proportion," says Anthony Scarsella, IDC's research manager for mobile phones.
"The recall of the Note 7 represents an industry-wide wake-up call that will undoubtedly lead to a more vigorous testing and certification process moving forward."
According to IDC, the top five vendors remain unchanged from the last quarter despite double- and triple-digit growth from the leading Chinese vendors Huawei, OPPO and Vivo.
It notes that while Samsung and Apple continue to challenge each other at the top, these upcoming players have delivered value-packed devices that offer consumers top-shelf features at a fraction of the cost compared to the market leaders.
Phones like the OPPO R9 and the Vivo X7 have become serious competitors in China and are also witnessing mild success in Western Europe thanks to new athletic sponsorships across various countries. Whether these brands can make an impact in the US market remains to be seen, but success will be crucial if aspirations of growth are a top priority.
Share