The IDC report for Q3 2013 shows iOS market losing market share YoY. From 14.4% in 3Q’12 it has declined to 12.9% in 3Q’13, which corresponds to a 25.6% decrease. While many may attribute it to the wait for launch of new iPhones, it seems 9 million reported shipments in last week of September couldn’t stop iOS from losing market share. So, it may be a matter of concern for Apple as there is a worldwide trend of low demand for pricey devices.
There may be one more reason for this decline which may be related to rise in large-screen smartphones or Phablets which account for 21% of smartphone shipments now, according to IDC. Samsung has been the trendsetter in case of large-screen devices and while many vendors are now following Samsung in bringing their own Phablets, Apple has ignored this trend. IDC also has similar opinion,
“Almost all successful Android vendors have added one or more 5-7-inch phablets to their product portfolios,” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “And Nokia’s recent announcement of the Lumia 1320 and 1520 put them in the category as well. In 3Q13, phablet shipments accounted for 21% of the smartphone market, up from just 3% a year ago. We believe the absence of a large-screen device may have contributed to Apple’s inability to grow share in the third quarter.”
Though this may change in a year from now, when Apple is reportedly bringing its own 4.7′ and 5.5′ iPhones.
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Source: IDC
