Global Smartphones Sales Up 9.7 Pct In Q42015

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- Global sales of smartphones increased 9.7 per cent to 403 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 over the same period in 2014, said Gartner, Inc. Research director Anshul Gupta said low-cost smartphones in emerging markets and strong demand for premium smartphones continued to be the driving factors. "The aggressive pricing of local and Chinese brands in the midrange and entry-level segments led to consumers upgrading more quickly to affordable smartphones," he added, in a statement Friday. He said during the quarter under review, Samsung and Huawei were the only two top-five smartphone vendors to increase sales, while Apple suffered its first decline. "With an increase in sales of 53 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, Huawei achieved the best performance year-over-year due to its increased brand visibility overseas. "For total smartphones sales in 2015, Samsung maintained top spot. But, its market share dropped to 22.5 per cent from 24.7 per cent in 2014, followed by Apple, whose share was up to 15.9 per cent from 15.4 per cent. Huawei's market share increased to 7.3 per cent from 5.5 per cent," Anshul said. -- BERNAMA