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iPhone Drops to 15% Market Share as Smartphone Market Goes Flat

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The latest data from research firm IDC reveals that Apple's smartphone market share dropped to 15.3 percent in the March quarter as the worldwide smartphone market fell nearly flat during the first three months of 2016.

Smartphone-Vendors-Q1-2016.jpg

Apple yesterday reported iPhone sales of 51.2 million during the three-month period ending March 26, compared to 61.2 million units and 18.3 percent market share in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, overall smartphone shipments totaled 334.9 million during the quarter, a year-over-year increase of only 500,000 units.
Despite the plethora of new features found on the newer "S" models, current iPhone 6/6 Plus owners may feel that a 6S upgrade may not be warranted at the moment. Apple also announced the new iPhone SE, which looks to challenge similarly priced Android options in numerous emerging markets where Apple has traditionally been seen as too expensive.
Click to expand...
Samsung continued to lead the market with 81.9 million smartphones shipped for 24.5 percent market share, down only slightly from 24.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo rounded off the top five smartphone makers in the quarter as Chinese vendors continue to churn the top of the charts.

Huawei, which manufactures Google's popular Android-based Nexus 6P smartphone, shipped 27.5 million handsets during the quarter for 8.2 percent market share as it attempts to compete with Apple and Samsung in the U.S. market and other regions beyond China. Its market share was 5.2 percent one year ago.

OPPO and Vivo, meanwhile, pushed out Lenovo and Xiaomi respectively for the fourth and fifth spots on the top smartphone vendors list.

Article Link: iPhone Drops to 15% Market Share as Smartphone Market Goes Flat
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/27/iphone-15-percent-market-share/
Apple's got its pricing all wrong. I would have entered the Apple ecosystem ten years earlier than I did. I simply couldn't afford to buy an Apple product earlier. Apple's retail prices are terribly overpriced, and in contrast, Apple's offshore workforce are terribly underpaid. How about some middle ground, Apple? Price lower and go for volume. Do we need to get to Huawei market share level before price changes are made?

No new iPhone in 4 inch at 6/6s launch - mistake.
Retail pricing too high - mistake.
 
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I would really like to see market share for phones purchased by users that use them as a smartphone. For example, downloading at least two third-party apps might be an indicator; or setting up their work email might be an indicator. Exclude those phones that aren't used as a smartphone.

I think there is a large number of very inexpensive android phones out there that have pretty much replaced the feature phones, and those inexpensive smartphones are still being used like feature phones (calls and texting only). I think it is misleading to include those in the smartphone market share. Smartphones are about apps, and if a phone isn't being used for apps and the user has no intent to use it like that, it shouldn't be counted in the data developers look to when figuring out how to develop their apps.
 
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smacrumon said:
Apple's got its pricing all wrong. I would have entered the Apple ecosystem ten years earlier than I did. I simply couldn't afford to buy an Apple product earlier. Apple's retail prices are terribly overpriced, and in contrast, Apple's offshore workforce are terribly underpaid. How about some middle ground, Apple? Price lower and go for volume. Do we need to get to Huawei market share level before price changes are made?
No new iPhone in 4 inch at 6/6s launch - mistake.
Retail pricing too high - mistake.
Click to expand...

The pricing isn't wrong with the entry level model, it's the storage that's the problem.

Should be 32 GB (5.5") for $649, and then 64 GB for $699.
Should be 32 GB (4.7") for $549 and then 64 GB for $599.

A 128 GB phablet shouldn't cost $1,000.00.
 
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A little sad, i just checked out Oppo http://www.oppo.com/en/smartphone-f1-plus/ as i haven't seen much phones from them but it seems like they took everything good from apple (and others) and put an android in it. I just don't get why would they be higher then LG for example. Huawei on the other side, eh - eh at least they try to innovate so i understand that.

And about Apple, please, just do less products and put more effort on those because it's becoming a hot mess. Really.
oh and 16GB, really...? Even 64GB seems a little on edge so please do something about that too.
 
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As I've said before, the buying public has figured it out - Android is not some evil empire when greater than 98% of smartphone users just use it as a phone, SMS, social media consumption device. No nuclear physics theory is being defined on any smartphone, not even on iPhones.
 
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Apple's well worn tactic: "they all do that"

Used when AntennaGate reared it's ugly head, Steve Jobs became enraged, telling the faithful "you're holding it wrong" and "they all do that".

Now Apple is quick to point the finger again. Market down? Duh... We already knew that.

Quick take the spotlight away when Apple isn't bragging. The heat is too much for them.

Right...

Fact of the matter?

If Apple would give us better battery life, make iOS run fast smooth and reliably, they'd still be selling record numbers. No one has Apple's power and resources. No one is more capable.

Apple has sat on their tail... And deserves what they're getting... :eek:
 
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oneMadRssn said:
I would really like to see market share for phones purchased by users that use them as a smartphone. For example, downloading at least two third-party apps might be an indicator; or setting up their work email might be an indicator. Exclude those phones that aren't used as a smartphone.
Click to expand...

It would be an interesting statistic! When it comes to sales, that is irrelevant: 1 Sale of a smartphone, however used, is still one sale.
 
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smacrumon said:
Apple's got its pricing all wrong. I would have entered the Apple ecosystem ten years earlier than I did. I simply couldn't afford to buy an Apple product earlier. Apple's retail prices are terribly overpriced, and in contrast, Apple's offshore workforce are terribly underpaid. How about some middle ground, Apple? Price lower and go for volume. Do we need to get to Huawei market share level before price changes are made?

No new iPhone in 4 inch at 6/6s launch - mistake.
Retail pricing too high - mistake.
What other mistakes?
Click to expand...

If any company is going to produce cheaper products the quality of the product will be cheaper to justify the cost..then the you get the customer complains that the glass or casing is cheaper...Apple just does not do cheap products...cheaper products will also lead to lower profits, especially considering the market saturation of phones these days. Its a balancing act for Apple...lower revenues, small profits to stay profitable.
 
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smacrumon said:
No, it seems to be the pricing entirely, not storage. The retail prices of all iPhones currently are completely wrong.

Original iPhone for the majority of its life was US $399.
iPhone 6s on launch is $649.
iPhone SE, a reworked model from 2013 is $399.

The price is not right.
Apple's retail prices of all iPhones currently are completely wrong.
Click to expand...

Wasn't the original iPhone $399 with a contract?
 
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StrangeNoises said:
Actually starting to wonder if the iPhone 7 thus far rumoured is *so* boring it'll actually be called the iPhone 6se
Click to expand...

It'll probably have a TrueTone display with the same resolution,
the case already leaked so there's nothing there.

The battery will be too small but contains "the best battery technology",
the headphone jack will be missing because it is obsolete.

It'll not be waterproof, will have nearly the same bezel because of Touch ID and True Tone sensors.
The LTE chips will be from Intel and probably the baseband is buggy and we are "using it wrong".

I can tell you that currently there's no reason at all to buy one.
I have the 6 and never even considered the 6S either.

A 6S Plus 128GB, Case and AppleCare costs 1280 Euro here.
Not going to happen, at all.
 
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Apple's iPhones are expensive, true, but iPhone's also comes together with iOS and that's also worth something, especially when you, like me, work within an Apple ecosystem.
I can afford it and I don't need every year a new iPhone. I'll skip the iPhone 7 and probably buy the iPhone 8. No hassles or issues. I stick to Apple as long iPhones delivers, and so far I haven't any issues.
 
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Jesus christ people. Can we stop with the marketshare nonsense? Apple clearly isn't aiming to be the leader in marketshare. Everything they do is to maximize the profit share of the smartphone business, which they are wildly successful at being pretty much the only money maker worth discussing.

I know everyone wants to be a Wall $treet big wig, but if your aim isn't marketshare, why the hell does everyone refer to it as if it's some type of ideal to aim for?
 
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smacrumon said:
No, it seems to be the pricing entirely, not storage. The retail prices of all iPhones currently are completely wrong.

Original iPhone for the majority of its life was US $399.
iPhone 6s on launch is $649.
iPhone SE, a reworked model from 2013 is $399.

The price is not right.
Apple's retail prices of all iPhones currently are completely wrong.
Click to expand...
the retail price of the iPhone was NEVER $399... it was $399 with a subsidized contract from a mobile provider which are no longer being offered by those mobile providers. the retail price of the iPhone has always been around $600.
 
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Apple is doomed not because the smartphone market goes flat, but because Apple made;

- 16GB base model in 2016.... Customers want 32GB base model.
- Thinner, thinner, thinner, thinner.... Customers want thicker and bigger battery.
- Bigger screen phone is better phone ?... (iPhone 6S plus > iPhone 6S). Since Samsung S7 has bigger screen than iPhone 6S, then does it mean S7 is better phone than iPhone 6S?
- Too many models... Welcome back to 1996.

Apple will be doomed more if iPhone 7 doesn't have;

- 32GB base model.
- Thicker than iPhone 6S.
- Bigger battery than iPhone 6S.
- iPhone 7 plus should be the same price with iPhone 7. (i.e., iPhone7+ 32GB model for $649).
- Better camera than other competitors'.
 
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