Q1 2016 Sees Samsung Lead in Smartphone Shipments, Apple in Revenue: Counterpoint

Global smartphone shipments remained flat at 344 million units in January-March, impacted by weaker demand in China and Brzail as well as parts of Europe, research firm Counterpoint said Thursday. This is the first time ever since the launch of smartphones that the segment has seen no growth, it said.

While three out of four mobile phones shipped on the planet now are smartphones but shipment has "slowed down considerably", Counterpoint said in a report.

"The slowdown can be attributed due to higher sell-in during the holiday season quarter and weaker demand in markets such as Brazil, China, Indonesia and parts of Europe," the report said.

Also, Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have captured 33 percent of the global smartphone market, it added.

"This is the first time ever since the launch of smartphone, the segment has seen 0 percent growth, signaling the key global scale players need to invigorate sales with more exciting products and pricing schemes," he said.

Samsung led the smartphone market by volume with a market share of 22.8 percent. However, its smartphone shipments declined six percent year-on-year.

Apple, which saw its iPhone shipments declining, ranked second in the tally with 14.9 percent share.

Others in the list included Huawei (8.3 percent), Xiaomi (4.2 percent), LG and Oppo (3.9 percent each).

In terms of revenue share, Apple led the smartphone market with a healthy 40 percent revenue share.

Samsung (23.2 percent), Huawei (6 percent), Oppo (3.6 percent), Xiaomi and LG (2.8 percent each) followed in the tally.