Apple keeps dominating the global premium phone market

[AdrielBruno]

In a nutshell: In a new recent market analysis, Counterpoint Research has verified Apple's dominance in the premium smartphone market. According to the report, the iPhone maker is holding over 50% of smartphones sales priced $400 and upwards since Q4 2020, while Samsung's results continue to dwindle in the same segment. Beyond that, Xiaomi has gained some ground but has not fully overcome Huawei, which maintains a strong presence in China.

Although Samsung remains in the lead in overall smartphone market share, the South Korean firm cannot surpass Apple in the growing and more profitable premium segment. Sales of premium phones grew 46% YoY in Q2 2021, with Apple capturing 57% of total sales.

That's the third consecutive quarter with a crushing lead...

Samsung has seen a decline in Q2 year-over-year sales, from 22% to 17%. As per Counterpoint's report, the reduction happened because their production was disrupted at Samsung's Vietnam Unit, one of the effects of a COVID-19 outbreak in that country.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 being lower priced than its predecessors might help the South Korean giant to bounce back. Both devices have been pretty successful recently.

Another interesting finding is the strong momentum of the iPhone 12. Consumer demand for 5G connectivity appears to keep growing and is believed to be driving iPhone 12 sales upwards, with Apple reporting year-over-year growth of 74% premium segment sales. It remains to be seen to what extent the incoming iPhone 13 series will help Apple maintain the popularity trend.

Battling it out for third place are Huawei and Xiaomi. With both currently holding 6% of premium phone sales in Q2 2021. The former has a strong presence in China, where they lose to Apple only. The Mi 11 series, however, has helped Xiaomi achieve an expansion in European and even Chinese markets, closing in on Huawei in terms of market share.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/91288-apple-keeps-dominating-global-premium-phone-market.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

"Samsung lags behind in second, while others are left to battle for third place"

#1 Apple
#2 Samsung
#3 Everything else.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

To be perfectly honest, despite being with apple iPhone since iPhone 1, I do appreciate the Android market for offering everyone an option. Android phones are very competitive on paper. I like that you can possibly get a 2TB Micro SD card to have more than 2TB of storage. I like that Android's competitive market offers phones with more and more gimmicks.

I was able to buy my mother a LG Stylo 1 and 2 and my girlfriend a Samsung J6 without spending more than $250.

What I don't like is the lack of iOS.

I love the iOS ecosystem.

 

[psycros]

To be perfectly honest, despite being with apple iPhone since iPhone 1, I do appreciate the Android market for offering everyone an option. Android phones are very competitive on paper. I like that you can possibly get a 2TB Micro SD card to have more than 2TB of storage. I like that Android's competitive market offers phones with more and more gimmicks.

I was able to buy my mother a LG Stylo 1 and 2 and my girlfriend a Samsung J6 without spending more than $250.

What I don't like is the lack of iOS.

I love the iOS ecosystem.

Its really all about the user experience, and unfortunately on Android it stinks.

 

[adamada72]

Its really all about the user experience, and unfortunately on Android it stinks.

Fascinating. I've used iOS phones for years and I'm constantly surprised how dated it always feels next to my main phone. Same with the hardware it just always feels so old. Apple doesn't even have usb-c, expansion or a file system you can access... it's just so... primitive. My guess is most iOS users have never used something like a Galaxy or it's me and I just dig the Android vibe.

 

[adamada72]

To be perfectly honest, despite being with apple iPhone since iPhone 1, I do appreciate the Android market for offering everyone an option. Android phones are very competitive on paper. I like that you can possibly get a 2TB Micro SD card to have more than 2TB of storage. I like that Android's competitive market offers phones with more and more gimmicks.

I was able to buy my mother a LG Stylo 1 and 2 and my girlfriend a Samsung J6 without spending more than $250.

What I don't like is the lack of iOS.

I love the iOS ecosystem.

I honestly don't get the appeal of iOS. I'd pay less for a device that had it.

 

[jonhason martin]

In a recent new market analysis, Counterpoint Research confirmed Apple’s dominant position in the high-end smartphone market. According to the report, since the fourth quarter of 2020, iPhone manufacturers have held more than 50% of smartphone sales of US$400 and above, while Samsung’s performance in the same market segment has continued to decline. In addition, Xiaomi has made some progress, but it has not completely defeated Huawei, which maintains a strong influence in China.

 

[kenny loris]

I phones and Apple are something out of this world, and I dont think any competitors can compete with them.

 

[DZillaXx]

Its really all about the user experience, and unfortunately on Android it stinks.

Honestly for a power user I find the iOS user experience to suck. Nearly everything is done better on android in terms of user experience. Android by far has a better pulldown menu, better settings menu, a better app drawer, better use of the home screens, not as clunky to share things, I can easily cast to nearly any tv brand, better cloud sync system, etc. Android does so many thing better than iOS, you'd have a easier time making a list of things iOS does better than Android. As the list would be short. I will say that iOS does have better battery management compared to most android devices, but there are android brands that are more optimized than the crap samsung makes. Samsung really is a poor example of Android done right on a software level, but on a hardware level flagship Samsung phones tend to have better build quality than even a top tier iPhone.

iOS stands out IMO for non techy users. iOS by far has the more fisher price feel to the interface, and the settings menus are a complete joke. Apple has done alot in the past few years to make iOS more like android, and for good reasons. But as someone that has always been around in the modding scene, and frequently deals with servers, camera systems, and automation systems. If you want the most windows/osx like experience on a phone, get a android device. I grew up on DOS, and still like the simplicity of a simple bash terminal.

I like my phone to act like a computer, and Android does that by far more than iOS could dream to do.

 

[Watzupken]

Honestly for a power user I find the iOS user experience to suck. Nearly everything is done better on android in terms of user experience. Android by far has a better pulldown menu, better settings menu, a better app drawer, better use of the home screens, not as clunky to share things, I can easily cast to nearly any tv brand, better cloud sync system, etc. Android does so many thing better than iOS, you'd have a easier time making a list of things iOS does better than Android. As the list would be short. I will say that iOS does have better battery management compared to most android devices, but there are android brands that are more optimized than the crap samsung makes. Samsung really is a poor example of Android done right on a software level, but on a hardware level flagship Samsung phones tend to have better build quality than even a top tier iPhone.

iOS stands out IMO for non techy users. iOS by far has the more fisher price feel to the interface, and the settings menus are a complete joke. Apple has done alot in the past few years to make iOS more like android, and for good reasons. But as someone that has always been around in the modding scene, and frequently deals with servers, camera systems, and automation systems. If you want the most windows/osx like experience on a phone, get a android device. I grew up on DOS, and still like the simplicity of a simple bash terminal.

I like my phone to act like a computer, and Android does that by far more than iOS could dream to do.

I think you rightfully pointed out the reason why iPhone is very popular. I believe not many people are techy and mostly looking for a phone that works. The supposed flexibility and more computer like feature may actually turn people away because it gives the impression of harder to use. I frequently toggle between iOS and Android device, and while it is true that the Android device tends to be easier to use, I.e. you can plug into a computer and transfer files easily, etc, the "openness" of the OS also makes me feel suspicious that the apps or even Google (whose main business is advertising) is watching my every move. I am sure Apple will monitor our usage too, but Google being an advertising company openly just don't help. Just my personal opinion.

Unfortunately, Samsung is biggest Android phone maker in the past and still now, and I do agree, their phone are really bad. The likes of OnePlus, Huawei (in the past) and Xiaomi actually makes very good quality and well priced Android phones.

 

[Sausagemeat]

The reason iPhone is ahead is because it’s the only premium experience. Android is a festering heap of garbage by comparison. I find it absurd that they get away with 1-2 years of updates. Why is this acceptable? And the performance on Android is so slow compared to iPhone if you’re doing anything with a photo or a video. On top of this iPhones have much better resale value. I always sell my iPhone on for a lot more than the competing Samsung device goes for when I upgrade.

 

[OortCloud]

Apple and Google dropped the Navalny voting app earlier today from their stores following pressure from the regime. I think this says a lot about the moral compass of both these organisations...