Need any more proof that Apple had a rough patch in Q3? iPhone vs. Samsung Galaxy S III isn’t even a thing in Q3, since Samsung’s device is the most popular smartphone in the world. Well, at least before millions of buyers get their iPhone 5.
It looks like Apple is losing more and more ground in favor of competition. The company spent years at war with Samsung and it has sworn to bury Android, yet Q3 had only bad news: iPhone isn’t the world’s most popular smartphone. Samsung Galaxy S III now enjoys that title according to a research by firm Strategy Analytics.
On Thursday, just one day after the review for iPad mini ruled it a capable table, but not as good as Fire HD and Nexus 7, here’s another research to give Apple a headache. Rival Samsung managed to get its smartphone at the top of the list worldwide, although iPhone managed to hold the title of the most popular smartphone in the world for more than two years.
Based on Strategy Analytics’ research, sales for iPhone 4S have plunged over the past few months. The drop was so significant it didn’t take a statistics degree to figure out that Apple is going through a rough patch. Apple sold in Q2 19.4 million phones, whereas in Q3 it had dropped to 16.2 million. Not a big plunge, right?
Well, according to Strategy Analytics, Samsung sold in the same time 18 million Galaxy S III smartphones, giving buyers the more affordable and newest technology in the market. It was an inspired selling point, since buyers waiting for Apple’s newest technologies had some waiting to do. And then Apple delivered, at least when it comes to iPhone 5.
Now, Apple is pushing the new iPad, the iPad mini and iPhone 5 to make sure it is going to make Wall Street’s estimates. Since people are still buying everything Apple makes, iPhone 5 is going to reclaim its world’s most popular smartphone title soon enough. Analysts agree.
“Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has proven wildly popular with consumers and operators across North America, Europe and Asia” analyst Neil Mawston told Reuters. According to Strategy Analytics it was the smartphone’s “large touchscreen design, extensive distribution across dozens of countries and generous operator subsidies” that pushed Galaxy S III all the way to the top.
