Smartphone Market Share: Samsung Remains the Leader

According to a survey, in Taiwan, China's smartphone market last year, Samsung remained the leader, while HTC and Sony took 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Apple showed high growth, taking the No. 1 spot in Taiwan, China's smartphone market share in the fourth quarter of last year.

According to IDC's (International Data Corporation) quarterly report on the Asia-Pacific mobile phone market for the fourth quarter of 2013, the total mobile phone market in Taiwan, China in the fourth quarter of 2013 was 2.47 million units, a 16% increase over the third quarter of that year and a 9% increase compared with the fourth quarter of last year.

Among them, Apple's growth was the most astonishing. Not only did the number of iPhones increase more than several times over the previous quarter, it also grew 39% compared with the same period last year when the iPhone 5 was launched. This further pushed the overall number of smartphones to a peak of 2.18 million units this quarter, with quarter-on-quarter growth of 22% and year-on-year growth as high as 30%.

Looking at the performance of various manufacturers in Taiwan, China in the fourth quarter of 2013, although Apple took first place in smartphone market share thanks to the boost from the arrival of new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C models, when statistics for the full year of 2013 are counted, Samsung still firmly held the No. 1 position in the market, while HTC and Sony ranked 2nd and 3rd in the market respectively.

Looking at model performance, Apple iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, the new HTC One, Butterfly, Samsung Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Note 3 were the best-performing models for the full year of 2013.