Apple overtook Samsung in the fourth quarter as the largest smartphone producer in a declining global market for handsets, research firm IDC said on Friday.
A survey by IDC showed Apple -- which reported its quarterly data Thursday -- led all vendors with 77.3 million iPhones sold, giving it a 19.2% market share.
Even though Apple’s fourth-quarter unit sales were down 1.3% from a year earlier, it was able to move ahead of South Korea’s Samsung, whose 74.1 million devices sold gave it a market share of 18.4 percent, IDC said.
Huawei held the number three position with a 10.2% market share, followed by fellow Chinese makers Xiaomi and Oppo, with 7.0 and 6.8%, respectively, according to IDC.
Overall smartphone sales were down 6.3% with 403.5 million handsets shipped, according to the survey.
IDC said the data showed consumers appeared in no rush to upgrade to the most expensive flagship smartphones from Apple and Samsung.
“The latest flock of posh flagships may have had consumers hitting the pause button in the holiday quarter,” said Anthony Scarsella, an IDC research manager.
Scarsella said these high-end devices “proved to be more of a luxury than a necessity among upgraders.”
