New smartphone releases and an increased emphasis on emerging markets drove global smartphone shipments above 300 million units for the second consecutive quarter, according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com). With the introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple posted its largest third quarter volume ever and saw its smartphone shipments rise 16.1% year-over-year.
According to preliminary data from IDC, vendors shipped a total of 327.6 million units during the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14), resulting in 25.2% growth when compared to the 261.7 million units shipped in 3Q13 and 8.7% sequential growth above the 301.3 million units shipped in 2Q14.
A driving force behind the record smartphone volume was the combined effort of the vendors trailing market leaders Samsung and Apple. Samsung remained the leader in the worldwide smartphone market, but was the only company among the top five to see its shipment volume decline year over year.
Although Apple posted strong results of 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units sold during its initial launch weekend, what should not be overlooked is the sustained demand for its older iPhone 5S and 5C models, which comprised the bulk of its volume for the quarter, notes IDC.