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Samsung Retains World Smartphone Crown Despite Note7 Fiasco

Worldwide smartphone shipments grow by 1% in Q3.
Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters

The last few weeks have been very bad for Samsung after several burn and blast cases sealed the fate of its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note7. However, despite the jolt, the Korean multinational has managed to hold on to the smartphone crown for the last quarter with a sizable lead over Apple.

According to a report released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Samsung is still the world's highest selling smartphone manufacturer. The report is based on smartphone shipment figures. The company retains a market share of 20 percent, showing a 3.3 percent dip as compared to its market share of 23.3 percent last year. A majority of the sales were driven by Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, as the Note7 suffered a fatal death because of battery issues.

The second position was held by Apple, with a 12.5 percent share of the smartphone pie, dropping almost a percentage from 13.4 percent last year. A large chunk of the 45.5 million smartphones shipped by the company comprised the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. It remains to be seen how much the Note7 debacle benefits iPhone sales in the coming holiday season.

"With Samsung's Note 7 finally laid to rest, both Samsung and other vendors will need to invest both time and money into properly testing devices to avoid a future incident of this proportion," Anthony Scarsella, a research manager with IDC's Mobile Phones team, noted in a press release issued by his firm. "The recall of the Note 7 represents an industry-wide wake-up call that will undoubtedly lead to a more vigorous testing and certification process moving forward."

IDC

Chinese manufacturers Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo took the next three positions in worldwide phone shipments, driven by budget phone sales primarily in India and China. While Huawei held 9.3 percent of the market with flagships such as Mate 9, its Honor brand also contributed to sales.

Oppo and Vivo, in recent times, have concentrated on the Indian market, partnering up by expanding their offline presence along with sports and movie sponsorships.

According to the IDC report, overall smartphone shipment across the world in the third quarter grew by 1 percent from 359.3 million units to 362.9 million units.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.