Apple Beats Samsung in Smartphone Market Share, Data Shows

This was the scene at the O2 store when the first iPhone was sold in the UK way back in November 2007.

Despite a relatively hostile media, tough and multi-tentacled competition, and assorted political turmoil, Apple managed to reclaim the top spot in the smartphone market in the last quarter, new data shows.

That means big sales at the high end  of the market as Apple doesn’t compete with the low end ‘dumbbutsmartish’ smartphone markets. Which strongly suggests smartphone success is not, in contrast to the logic of consumerism, a low margin numbers game.

People respond best to quality.

Apple shipped 78.3 million iPhones in Q4,  up 4.7% year-over-year. That’s almost a million more than Sammy. A million is actually quite a big number — it’s almost half of the number of people who signed a UK petition demanding Trump’s UK State Visit invite be revoked!

In contrast, Samsung shipped 77.5 million units, mostly of its low end or old hat handsets, though that company did quite well to achieve this against the backdrop of a bribery scandal in its home nation, exploding smartphones shipped too soon, and political turmoil. Though it usually seems to have the press on its side for some reason.

What does this mean? Here’s my take: We know Apple’s customer satisfaction levels are higher than anyone else in the industry. We know it has exceeded iPhone sales expectations, and we also know tens (possibly hundreds) of millions of smartphone users are looking forward to the Y10 iPhone.

Apple’s smartphone industry dominance — already clear to see – looks set to hit a new zenith, particularly if its iPhone Pro manages to redefine expectation of what a smartphone can do, look like, and achieve.

Though (unlike Samsung) I doubt Apple will rush it out the door to grab some positive marketing support. Customer satisfaction is too precious to squander.