Apple surpassed Samsung to take the top position in the global smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to research from Strategy Analytics. Apple had an estimated 17.8 percent of the market, after shipping 78.3 million iPhones, while Samsung took 17.7 percent with 77.5 million phones shipped.
Overall the market improved to 9 percent annual growth in Q4, for total volume of 438.7 million units. Over the full year, unit sales were up just 3 percent, but still set a new record of 1.49 billion phones shipped.
Huawei was in third place in the market in Q4, moving to over 10 percent market share for the first time, compared to 9.3 percent a year earlier. The market researcher estimates that Huawei shipped 44.9 million smartphones in the quarter and 138.8 million over the full year.
Number-four Oppo grew the fastest last year, more than doubling shipments to nearly 85 million, of which 29.5 million in Q4. Oppo had an estimated 6.7 percent of the market in the last quarter, followed by Vivo with 5.8 percent.
