Samsung S4 fails to prevent ANZ smartphone sales low

Despite Q2 witnessing notable product launches like Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4, smartphones shipments witnessed a marginal fall compared to the previous quarter across ANZ.

The total ANZ mobile phone market that includes feature phones and smartphones dropped by 5% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) and over 20% year-over-year (YOY), with over 2.6 million devices shipped in the second calendar quarter of 2013.

According to recent findings by IDC, the contraction in the total market is mainly attributed to the declining feature phone segment in which shipments fell by over 45% compared to last year.

As mentioned, there was also a slight decline in smartphones shipments during the period, highlighting a surprising slowdown in demand for these devices.

“There has been a slowdown in replacement demand that has previously contributed to the phenomenal growth of the smartphones market," says Aman Bajaj, Mobility Analyst, IDC ANZ.

"Feature phones now only account for under a fifth of mobile phone shipments.

"This suggests that the majority of mobile users have already made the transition to a smart device."

Operating Systems

Although iOS continues to command a loyal following in the ANZ market, IDC claims Android was able to pip iOS as the leading operating system (OS) in the market.

Google's OS benefited from Samsung’s solid performance as well as the push by other Android vendors like Sony, Huawei, LG and HTC.

Unsurprisingly however, Android and iOS combined accounted for more than 90% of all smartphones shipped into the region in Q2, highlighting their dominance in the OS landscape.

Thus, the other platforms in the market face an uphill task in luring end-users from these well established platforms.

Windows managed to secure the third spot followed by BlackBerry that launched its first set of BB10 devices earlier this year.