The latest preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reveals that smartphone vendors shipped 399.5 million units combined in the fourth quarter of 2015 which is a 5.7% increase when compared to the same period last year. For the full year global smartphone shipments crossed 1.4 billion units for the first time, 1432.9 million units to be precise, a record 10.1% increase from the 1301.7 million units shipped in 2014. Samsung remained the global leader in smartphone shipments for the quarter and the year despite the fact that in its Q4 2015 earnings release the company attributes the slight dip in operating profit to decrease in smartphone sales.
IDC's data shows that Samsung shipped 85.6 million units in Q4 2015 which is a 14% increase from the same time last year. For the entire year Samsung's smartphone shipments come in at 324.8 million units and that's a meager 2.1% increase from the 318.2 million units shipped in 2014. IDC notes that Samsung will face a multi-front battle in the months ahead as it comes under increasing pressure from Apple in the high-end segment of the market and from Chinese vendors in the low-end to mid-range segment of the market. No wonder Samsung expects global growth to remain tough in 2016.
