Samsung narrowed the gap with Apple in terms of smartphone sales in the third quarter, revealed data published by Strategy Analytics on November 28. The South Korean manufacturer maintained its lead in shipments, accounting for 21.2 percent of the market, followed by the Cupertino company with a 11.4 percent share.
Related: Samsung beats Apple in smartphone sales during Q3 2015
Apple accounted for a total of 32 percent of the industry's combined revenue in the July-September period, while Samsung was responsible for 23.1 percent. That 8.9 percentage-point gap marks a drop from the 15.5 percentage points posted in the third quarter of 2015, according to The Korea Herald.
The Cupertino company also came out on top in the operating profit department
Apple was responsible for 69.9 percent of the total profit in the smartphone market in the third quarter, with Samsung accounting for a meagre 21.8 percent. The gap represents an 18.8 percentage point drop—down from 66.9 to 48.1—over the cited period, it has been revealed.
Strategy Analytics concluded that while Apple posted lacklustre performance results on the back of the delayed release of the iPhone X, Samsung was successful as it diversified its smartphone portfolio, which covers the budget Galaxy A and flagship Galaxy S series, even if the statistics suggest otherwise.
