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Smartphones
Tech

Apple and Samsung are tied for world’s No 1 smartphone seller

  • The successful launch of the iPhone 11 family of smartphones helped Apple close the gap with Samsung in 2019

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A child tries an iPhone 11 Pro Max smartphone during a product launch at an Apple Store in Hong Kong on September 20, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
Bloomberg

While 2019 started off with expectations of Huawei Technologies challenging Samsung Electronics for the title of world’s most prolific smartphone vendor, it is the more familiar foe – Apple – that is now threatening the South Korean titan’s throne.

Smartphone market estimates from Strategy Analytics put Apple’s iPhone shipments for the fourth quarter of last year at 70.7 million units, slightly ahead of Samsung’s estimated 68.8 million.

Researchers at IHS Markit have the positions flipped – with Samsung at 70.7 million and Apple at 67.7 million.

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But the consensus is that there is essentially no longer any daylight between the two dominant brands in smartphones. Both market-tracking firms estimate that Huawei shipped 56 million units in the past quarter, a respectable performance in light of the heavy US sanctions the company has been under.

Research firms are forced to estimate because Apple stopped providing its own iPhone figures a year ago, while Samsung gives a total number that includes smartphones and feature phones.

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Apple this week reported record December-quarter revenue and profit, spiking its share price to a new high. The iPhone was once again its prize jewel, bolstered by strong growth in the company’s wearables and services groups.

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