Sales of Apple's high-end smartphones suffered their first ever year-on year decline of 4.4 per cent, according to market analyst¹ Gartner.

 

South Korean rival Samsung market share also slipped throughout the year to 22.5 per cent, a decline of 2.2 per cent, but was enough to maintain its position as the world's most popular smartphone vendor². In total, Samsung shipped around 320 million units throughout 2015 globally, compared to Apple's 225 million - some 15.9 per cent of the market.

 

Consequently Apple's share of the smartphone operating system market also fell, from 20.4 per cent in the final months of 2014 to 17.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2015.

 

Google's Android share rose 4.7 per cent from 76 per cent the previous year to 80.7 per cent in 2015.

 

The statistics are indicative of the wider slowdown in smartphone sales, as consumers in developed markets own more smartphones and tablets than ever before, and are replacing them at a slower rate than in the past. Weak international currency and fears of economic slowdown - particularly in China - are also contributing factors.

点击收听单词发音