The International Data Corporation (IDC) has reported that the Australian mobile phone market declined for the sixth consecutive quarter, shipping 2.06 million phones during the third quarter of 2016, 8.2 percent fewer than the 2.2 million shipped in the same time period last year— although higher than last quarter’s 1.8 million shipments.
Thanks to the launch of the iPhone 7, Apple’s Australian market share grew from 40.41 percent last quarter to 46.42 percent this quarter. However, this represented a year-on-year gain of just 1.23 percent due to the saturation of the Australian market.
“As the market matures, incremental innovation will not be enough to drive positive results, as consumers believe the added features do not warrant an upgrade, especially in the high-priced segment,” IDC Australia market analyst Bilal Javed said.
On the other hand, facing some time tough times with the global recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Samsung experienced a 6.9 percent drop over the quarter, from 32.89 percent market share last quarter to 26.01 percent this quarter, and down 3.42 percent year on year.
Despite this, Samsung continues to enjoy the second-highest smartphone market share in Australia, followed by Alcatel, with 60.2 percent of the market, up 1.9 percent year on year and 0.66 percent quarter on quarter; ZTE, with 5.17 percent market share, up 2.29 percent year on year and 1.64 percent quarter on quarter; Huawei, with 4.92 percent market share, up 2.36 percent year on year and 1.64 percent quarter on quarter; and others including Oppo, with 11.46 percent market share, down 4.36 percent year on year and down 2.75 percent quarter on quarter.
Interestingly, the market also saw a rise in shipments from vendors offering devices in the low/mid-priced bracket.
Javed added.
Shipments were mainly driven through the open market as well as the prepaid channel as established vendors such as Alcatel, Huawei, Motorola, [and] Oppo aim to establish their footprint in Australia.
IDC on Monday predicted that the used and refurbished smartphone market will grow at a 22.3 percent compound annual growth rate thanks to trade-in programs, forecasting that it will jump from 81.3 million devices in 2015 to 222.6 million in 2020.
Adapted from ZDnet
