IDC releases data: 2014 Q2 Global smartphone shipments over 300 million

IDC released the latest data from the 2014 Q2 global smartphone market, which shows that the global smartphone market has once again been a landmark breakthrough.

In the market total, 2014 Q2 smartphone shipments reached 301 million, this is the first quarter of the history of shipments exceeding 300 million. Compared with 240 million shipments last year, the growth rate remained at double-digit levels, to 25.3% per cent.

In terms of market share, the two operating system platforms, iOS and Android, still dominate the market, with a share of 96.4%, with almost no breathing space for other rivals. Among them, the iphone shipments grew 12.7% year-on-year, to 35.2 million units, the Android camp Rose even more, year-on-year growth of 33.3%, shipments are up to 255 million.

So while iphone shipments are on the rise, the market share of the former has declined under the more robust growth momentum of Android. Compared with the same period last year, the iphone's market share fell 1.3%, from 13% to 11.7%. On the other side, Android's share has grown from 79.6% to 84.7%, the Android camp's new market-share record.

As for Windows Phone and BlackBerry: Windows Phone is now a old in the smartphone market, with a market share of 2.5%, down from 3.4% in the same period last year. The Old King's BlackBerry was even more dismal, with market share falling from 2.8% a year earlier to 0.5% this year. The only consolation is that BlackBerry's market share has risen in a sizeable Asian market.

IDC also specialises in the market share of smartphone brands in different price ranges. Of these, Android and Windows Phone are the main players within the 200 dollar price range. 58.6% of the world's Android smartphone prices are in this range, while Windows phones is more than 60%. The iphone is a completely different picture, and the 400-dollar smartphone market is firmly occupied.

Finally, IDC's survey of the PC market in July was in great contrast to Apple's own findings. The IDC survey is based on its CSM quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, which determines the sample frames, metrics, quotas, and so on for the survey. If you are interested in finding out about IDC's methodology, it will also help you make better judgments about whether the findings are objective or not.