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Strong iPhone sales, Note7 disaster sees Apple back on top

Apple has overthrown Samsung as the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer for the first time in five years after reporting record sales.

The iPhone maker regained the top spot after selling 78.3 million handsets in the final quarter of 2017, while Samsung sold 77.5 million, according to research group Strategy Analytics.

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Apple reports blockbuster quarter

Apple Inc reported a bigger-than-expected rise in iPhone sales for the holiday quarter, while stocks close mostly lower.

Samsung overtook Apple as the world's biggest smartphone maker in 2011 and has retained the top spot since then, bar one quarter in 2015 when the two were tied.

Samsung does not reveal unit sales of its handsets but independent researchers have consistently marked it as the company with the highest market share. However, the Korean company's Note 7 recall last year, after many of the models overheated, meant sales fell by 3.8 million year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2016, while strong sales of the iPhone 7 grew Apple's sales by 3.5 million.

Apple revealed record iPhone sales this week as it reported record revenues after three consecutive quarters of decline. Shares rose more than 5 per cent to an 18-month high.

"This was the iPhone's best performance for over a year, as Apple capitalised on Samsung's recent missteps," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics. "Samsung lost momentum in the quarter as a result of its Note7 battery fiasco. Samsung captured 18 per cent share for the quarter and 21 per cent share for the full year, its lowest level since 2011. [It] will be banking on the rumoured Galaxy S8 model in a few weeks' time to reignite growth and return to the top spot in quarterly smartphone shipments."

Meanwhile, Apple is considering legal action against Donald Trump's travel ban, chief executive Tim Cook has said. The iPhone maker has already said it opposes the ban on nationals from seven largely-Muslim countries travelling to the US, but Mr Cook told the Wall Street Journal that it may take this a step further with legal options.

The Telegraph, London

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