Smartphone sales exceed feature phones for first time in Q2

Unit sales of smartphones surpassed feature phone sales for the first time in Q2 2013, according to Gartner, It estimates the smartphone market grew 46.5 percent from a year earlier to 225 million units or 51.8 percent of the total handset market. Feature phone sales were down 21 percent year-on-year to 210 million units. The regions Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smartphone growth rates of 74.1 percent, 55.7 percent and 31.6 percent respectively. 

Gartner maintained its forecast for total mobile phone sales of 1.82 billion units this year, supported by new product launches around year-end and the continued fall in smartphone prices. 

Samsung maintained the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market in Q2, and its share increased to 31.7 percent from 29.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012. Apple's share fell over the same period to 14.2 percent from 18.8. Number-three LG rose to 5.1 percent from 3.8 a year ago, Lenovo grew to 4.7 percent from 2.8, and ZTE had 4.3 percent of the smartphone market. 

In terms of mobile operating systems, Google's Android strengthened its lead, accounting for 79.0 percent of all smartphones shipped in the quarter. Apple's iOS was in second place with 14.2 percent, and Microsoft's Windows moved into third place, growing its share to 3.3 percent from 2.6 a year ago. BlackBerry fell to fourth place with 2.7 percent of the market, half its share of a year earlier.