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Smartphone shipments reached 338 million in the second quarter of 2015, representing a year over year growth rate of 16 percent, according to a report from Juniper Research.
The report indicated the global smartphone market has continued to mature this quarter, with the gap between winners and losers growing larger.
Apple’s record-breaking streak with the iPhone continues, with 47.5 million unit sales fueled by growth in China, with yearly revenues for the region increasing 112 percent to more than $13 billion.
Samsung shipments have continued to decline, although the company reported a more profitable product mix this quarter, the report noted.
Microsoft has been steadily increasing shipments in the lead up to Windows 10 for phones—expected in the fall–shipping 8.4 million devices, a 12 percent increase over last year.
The launch of the S6 and S6 Edge, expected to ship between 60 and 70 million by the end of 2015, was blunted by reports of delays in components, and as a result, the company has not been able to ship the volumes it anticipated. Samsung said it would be ‘adjusting the price’ of the devices to boost sales ahead of new high-end model launches expected in the third quarter of 2015.
While the launch of the P8 helped Huawei to nearly 50 percent year over year growth, Xiaomi, its nearest rival, shipped 20.5 million units, representing an increase of a third compared to this time last year.
The key difference between Huawei and Xiaomi is that Huawei is currently making an effort to expand beyond Asia, the report noted. Xiaomi is not, leaving it vulnerable to the slowing of the Chinese market, which is also affecting ZTE.
BlackBerry’s decline continued, with shipments just above the 1 million mark as the release schedule is slashed from four phones a year to just one or two. LG posted 14.1 million shipments, representing a year over year decline of just below 3 percent.
As the growth in smartphones continues, so does global mobile data traffic, which is set to reach 52 million terabytes (TB) in 2015, an increase of 59 percent from 2014, according to a report from Gartner.
While common wisdom would suggest younger children, teens and Millennials would be the driving force behind mobile data usage, the report actually found the opposite.
The survey of 1,000 smartphone users in the U.S. found nearly half (47 percent) of 45- to 54- year-old respondents stream 15 minutes or more of mobile video apps over cellular networks per session, whereas only 40 percent of 18- to 24- year-old respondents stream more than 15 minutes.