China-based Huawei took the second-place spot from Apple in a tightening global smartphone market, during the second quarter of this year, according to figures released Tuesday by International Data Corporation.
South Korean consumer electronics titan Samsung remained the top smartphone maker, shipping 71.5 million handsets, but Huawei moved into second position with shipments of 54.2 million, according to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Apple sold 41.3 million iPhones in the quarter that ended June 30, just shy of the 42 million figure anticipated by analysts, claiming 12.1 percent of the global market compared to 20.9 percent for Samsung and 15.8 percent for Huawei.
It was the first time since early 2010 that Apple wasn't in one of the top two spots in the smartphone market, according to IDC.
Apple, Huawei and Samsung were the main contenders when it came to competition for high-end smartphones priced at $700 or more, according to Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.
“The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown,” said Reith.
The iPhone did well, with the top-of-the-line iPhone X model a big seller in many markets, according to IDC. Apple was expected to wrest back control of the market with the release of new iPhone models in the fall.
Apple said on Tuesday that its profit had jumped more than 30 percent to $11.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, exceeding the market expectations despite selling fewer iPhones than analysts projected.
The news boosted shares in the tech giant in after-hours trading, putting it ever closer to a history-making, trillion-dollar market value, even as Huawei knocked Apple off second spot
Apple's revenue in the fiscal third quarter soared 17 percent to $53.3 billion from the same period a year earlier on the back of sales of pricier iPhones, online services and wearable devices.
“We're thrilled to report Apple's best June quarter ever, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth,” chief executive Tim Cook said in the earnings release.
Shares in the Silicon Valley-based technology titan rose 4.03 percent to $197.95 in after-hours trade that followed release of the earnings figures.
“Apple gave the Street and tech investors finally some good news” beating earnings forecasts and predicting the current quarter will be strong, GBH insights head of technology research Daniel Ives said in a note to investors.
To hit the trillion-dollar market value, Apple shares would have to climb about five percent more.
Preliminary findings by IDC indicated a total of 342 million smartphones were shipped during the second quarter in a 1.8 percent decline from the same period a year earlier.
The drop marked the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines in the global smartphone shipments, according to IDC.
Market saturation and climbing average selling prices were among factors curbing growth in the smartphone market, said Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker research manager Anthony Scarsella.
“Consumers remain willing to pay more for premium offerings in numerous markets and they now expect their device to outlast and outperform previous generations of that device which cost considerably less a few years ago,” Scarsella said.
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