Strategy Analytics

Survey ranks Apple as #1 wearables maker

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 5, 2017

In a report issued Thursday market research firm Strategy Analytics said that Apple has overtaken Fitbit to become the world's leading vendor of devices worn on one's body, capturing sixteen percent of the global market for wearables in the March quarter.

Apple sold an estimated 3.5 million watches during the three-month period ending in March, a 59 percent increase over the 2.2 million Apple Watch units sold in the year-ago quarter.

According to Strategy Analytics data, rival Fitbit shipped 2.9 million units in March, marking a significant 36 percent drop from the 4.5 million Fitbits shipped in the year-ago quarter.

Strategy Analytics stated:

Fitbit has lost its wearables leadership to Apple, due to slowing demand for its fitnessbands and a late entry to the emerging smartwatch market.

Fitbit’s shipments, revenue, pricing and profit are all shrinking at the moment and they have a major fight on their hands to recover this year.

The new Apple Watch Series 2 is selling “relatively well” in the US, UK and elsewhere, due to “enhanced styling, intensive marketing and a good retail presence,” said the research firm.

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Chinese startup Xiaomi shipped 3.4 million wearable units, good for a cool fifteen percent marketshare worldwide. Demand for Xiaomi's popular Mi Band fitness range was broadly flat across its core markets of Asia.

Fitbit thus far has mostly focused on fitness bands and related accessories.

That could change soon as the company is expected to add smartwatches to its portfolio. However, if an image leaked earlier this week (above) is anything to go by, Fitbit's upcoming smartwatch slated for release this fall won't win any beauty contest.

Fitbit also plans on releasing a pair of Bluetooth earbuds, codenamed “Parkside” internally, alongside the smartwatch, according to two of Yahoo Finance’s sources. A photo of the upcoming $150 earbuds (below) was leaked to Yahoo Finance earlier this week.

Last December, Fitibit acquired software assets of the struggling smartwatch maker Pebble for a mere $40 million. Following the acquisition, Fitbit put the last nail in Pebble's coffin by cancelling all new hardware that Pebble had in the pipeline.

Global wearables shipments reached 22 million units during the March quarter, marking a 21 percent increase year-over-year from 18.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Stronger demand for new smartwatch models in North America, Western Europe and Asia drove the uptick, said Strategy Analytics.

The full Wearables Market Data repot is available on the Strategy Analytics website.

Apple grabs 89 percent of smartphone profits while Android captures record-low 11 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 29, 2016

The latest indication that even with its minuscule share of smartphone units sold Apple is clobbering everyone when it comes to profits came Thursday via research firm Strategy Analytics. The research company reported that the Cupertino firm took home an astounding 88.7 percent of operating profit share in smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year.

This is no doubt the effect of strong sales of Apple's well-received iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets. Android, meanwhile, has fallen to a record-low eleven (11.3) percent.

Apple ties Samsung for the world’s top smartphone maker crown

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 29, 2016

Driven by phenomenal iPhone sales during the holiday quarter, Apple has now tied Samsung for the title of the world's top smartphone maker. According to latest numbers from research firm Strategy Analytics relayed by Bloomberg, both companies sold about 74.5 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year.

Both companies took an equal 19.6 percent market share in the global market for smartphones. Motorola owner Lenovo was a distant third with a 6.5 percent share, followed by Chinese vendor Huawei, which took a 5.7 percent share. Lenovo and Huawei shipper about 24 million smartphones each.

Apple’s profit eclipses Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and LG combined

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated June 14, 2016

What's more important, smartphones shipped or smartphone profits? That question is at the heart of a debate over competing figures used to bolster Samsung or Apple. A day after a Samsung-friendly market research firm claimed the South Korean firm shipped three times as many phones, new figures show Apple profit higher than most of its rivals combined.

Sales of 33.8 million iPhones during the last quarter earned more than the mobile units of Samsung, LG, Nokia, Huawei, Lenovo and Motorola all together, according to a Wednesday report. The report also ignited a new debate over how corporate figures can be twisted to fit any preconceived notion - such as Apple's losing battle against Android...

Samsung now selling 1 out of each 3 smartphones

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 29, 2013

Although Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones during the third quarter, up from 26.9 million a year ago, South Korean Samsung continues to dominate smartphones on a global scale. The company sold more than 88 million smartphones during the same period, comprising 33.2 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, according to one market research firm.

Despite its uptick in unit sales, Apple's share of the smartphone market for the quarter slipped to 13.4 percent, down from 15.6 percent - something that should be corrected in the fourth quarter, as sales of new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s smartphones come into full view...

For this analyst, Apple needs both low-cost iPhone and iPhablet to stay ahead of curve

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Although Apple managed to surprise investors with better-than-expected iPhone sales, some observers see a more daunting future for the flagship Apple smartphone.

Apple's global smartphone marketshare may have fallen by some estimates to as low as fourteen percent amid increasing pressure from rivals seeking higher margins and more sales.

Strategy Analytics describes the iPhone being "trapped in a pincer movement" between Android cheapos and high-end monster phones with five-inch screens. In other words, as iPhone competitors that churn out inexpensive handsets increasingly march toward the mid-range in hopes of gaining more profit, Apple's high-end rivals are now moving toward the middle, seeking increased sales...

India overtakes Japan as third biggest smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 26, 2013

For years, the big three smartphone markets have been China, the U.S. and Japan. India now has knocked Japan out of the third spot due in part to better distribution and increased attention from Apple and Samsung, a research firm said Wednesday.

India has recently been in the spotlight as the two smartphone giants battle over the nation's growing interest in adopting the more powerful mobile phones. As a result, consumers are bombarded with an array of buying options, perhaps explaining why Strategy Analytics is reporting 163 percent smartphone growth in India, four times the global average...

Samsung leads Apple, Lenovo in China smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 11, 2013

An interesting report on what smartphone brand is leading in China leaked over the weekend. It's interesting because most market updates are distributed far and wide. Instead, the South Korean news agency Yonhap published a private report indicating that country's Samsung leads Apple and others in the huge mobile marketplace.

According to the Strategy Analytics report obtained by Yonhap, Samsung is the number one brand in China with 17.7 percent of the market during 2012. Intriguingly, Samsung's rise coincides with a plummeting Nokia, which previously held the top spot...

Strategy Analytics: iPhone 5/4S are world’s two most popular smartphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Just as investors are (again) punishing the Apple stock on talk of Foxconn freezing recruitment in China amid weakening iPhone 5 demand (or perhaps because the iPhone 5S is entering production in March?) comes a new survey of the smartphone market by research firm Strategy Analytics. And the numbers look good: the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S each outsold Samsung's Galaxy S III during the all-important 2012 holiday quarter.

This makes the iPhone 5 the world's bestselling smartphone, but what's really eyebrow-raising is that the 16-month old (and now discounted) iPhone 4S also overtook Samsung's flagship device...

Apple overtakes Samsung as top US mobile phone vendor

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, strong iPhone 5 sales and a record-breaking holiday quarter have pushed Apple ahead of Samsung in US mobile phone marketshare with a brawny 34%.

For the first time ever, the Cupertino company has become the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States. And for the first time since 2008, Samsung is not. We've got more on the report after the fold...

iPhone 5 helps Apple grab a quarter of the world’s LTE device market

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 11, 2012

In less than three months the iPhone 5 has been available, Apple has laid claim to more than 26 percent of the LTE device market. While rival Samsung still is the LTE leader, its position fell by nearly 11 percent following the iPhone 5's September 21 launch, researchers say.

Smartphones from by Apple and Samsung are leading an explosion in LTE use. While 2011 ended with nine million 4G subscriptions, 2012 will exit with fifty million LTE users, according to Strategy Analytics. Asia appears to be a hotspot for LTE use, the research firm noted...