The world of smartphones is increasingly becoming a tale of two superpowers.
ABI Research reports that Samsung and Apple now account for the majority of the top 20 smartphone models sold worldwide.
The latest data, however, is limited to the first quarter of 2014. Nonetheless, and not surprisingly, heavily marketed flagship devices like the iPhone 5s and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 i9500 top the rankings.
“Samsung’s dominance is driven by its market leading 27% market share and despite Apple’s lower market share its small, clearly tiered portfolio creates significant volume for just a few SKUs,” explains Nick Spencer, senior practice director for ABI Research.
Sony, LG, and for the first time, Xiaomi make up the rest of the top 20, with Huawei falling out of the top rankings.
“The much talked about Chinese vendor Xiaomi’s top device by shipment volume is the Redmi, which is now available outside of China, at a very affordable $130,” added Spencer.
It goes without saying that the other smartphone vendors are struggling to compete with Apple and Samsung’s huge flagship device marketing budgets, both above the line and in channel.
