Global smartphone shipments soared in the third quarter of this year.
Thanks to a bounty of hot new smartphone releases and an increased emphasis on emerging markets, global smartphone shipments exploded above 300 million units for the second consecutive quarter.
The latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows that vendors shipped a total of 327.6 million units during the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14) (and 25.2% growth vs. Q3 of 2013).
“Despite rumors of a slowing market, smartphone shipments continue to see record-setting volumes,” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
“We’ve finally reached a point where most developed markets are experiencing single-digit growth while emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively,” Reith adds. “In these markets, smartphone price points are making mobile computing possible where we once expected feature phones to remain dominant. This is great news for overall volumes, but the challenge has now become how to make money on devices that are quickly becoming commodity products. Outside of Apple, many are struggling to do this.”
