Global top ten smartphone vendors 2014

Samsung smartphones captured record market(32.5%) share with galaxy s4 in 2013, leaving iPhones far behind but 2014 was a difficult year for Samsung as its market share dropped to 28% compared with 32.5% of the previous year.
Nonetheless, Samsung retained its number one position. Samsung’s large-size, high-end Galaxy Note series faced stiff challenges from iPhone 6 Plus, while its midlevel and low-end smartphone shipments were undercut by inexpensive Chinese brands. As a result, Samsung’s overall shipment target had undergone downward revisions since the beginning of 2014, with annual growth in shipments only at 8.4% (around 326.4 million units).

In 2014, Apple maintained its high annual growth rate of 24.5%, which translates to 191.3 million units shipped worldwide for the entire year. With 16.4% market share, Apple was a solid number two in the worldwide smartphone rankings. Apple’s position was attributed to the success of its first large-size smartphone model, the iPhone 6 Plus. This new category addressed Apple’s lack of smartphones with above 5” screens and thus significantly raised the fourth quarter shipping ratio.

As for LG, its strategy of “promoting high quality products at low prices” paid off with strong market reception to its flagship smartphone models, ranging from G2/G2 Pro to the newest G3. “Right now G3 is the first smartphone outfitted with a 2K screen that gives users better viewing experience,” said Wu, “and this showed LG’s advantage of having a display panel manufacturer as under its wings.” For that reason, LG was the dark horse of 2014 with its ranking jumped up to number four and annual shipment growth at 75.4% (70 million units shipped).