Gartner: Smartphones now outsell feature phones, Samsung still way ahead

Research firm Gartner has spilled out new statistics for worldwide smartphone shipments in Q2 2013. It’s a pretty historic moment, as smartphone shipments have now surpassed those of feature phones for the first time ever. Global smartphone sales hit 225 million units in Q2, while 210 million feature phones were sold in the same period. So smartphones are now 51.8 percent of all mobile sales.

Korean giant Samsung (005930:KS) remains way ahead, stretching its lead from 29.7 percent in Q2 2012, to 31.7 percent market share in the latest quarter. Apple is second, while another Korean brand, LG, is third. China’s Lenovo and ZTE are fourth and fifth.

The research firm says it’s critical for “Samsung to step up its game in the mid-tier and also be more aggressive in emerging markets. Innovation cannot be limited to the high end.” Indeed, lower-price models from the likes of China’s Huawei and Xiaomi could really hurt Samsung in China.

Gartner says of Lenovo’s progress:

Lenovo’s mobile phone sales grew 60.6 percent to reach 11 million units in the second quarter of 2013. Lenovo’s quarter performance was bolstered by smartphone sales. Its smartphone sales grew 144 percent year-over-year and helped it rise to the number four spot in the worldwide smartphone market for the first time. Lenovo continues to rely heavily on its home market in China, which represents more than 95 percent of its sales. It remains challenging for Lenovo to expand outside China as it has to strengthen its direct channel as well as its relationships with communications service providers.

In other news, Windows Phone leaps BlackBerry to become the third OS of choice, while Android strengthens its domination with 79 percent global market share. Hit the Gartner link for all those other details.

(Source: Gartner, via AndroidBeat)

(Editing by Anh-Minh Do)