This report covers shipments by cellular technology. The technology we cover are 2G/3G/4G including CDMA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE and iDEN.
Following up on the previous Market Monitor report for Q3 2014, please find the next latest research from Counterpoint breaking down the quarterly handset shipments by different cellular air-interface technologies (e.g. LTE (4G), WCDMA (3G), TD-SCDMA (3G), etc.) for 65 OEMs covering majority of the global handset volumes.
Summary of the report
- Global handset shipments grew 7% annually as 3G/4G smartphone demand continued to ramp globally to an all-time high of 471 million units
- LTE was the fastest growing segment as the total demand more than doubled compared to last year and crossing 100 million units in a quarter for the first time ever.
- LTE shipment volumes could overtake the shrinking 2G GSM segment over the next few quarters as the number two cellular-access technology behind 3G UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA
- Samsung surpassed Apple to dominate the high-value LTE segment with a 32% share in Q3 2014 but we estimate Apple to take back the leading position in the Q4 holiday season with the help of its newly launched iPhone 6 & 6 Plus models with an all-LTE portfolio
- Apple & Samsung together captured 60% of the global LTE segment volumes down from 70% in Q3 2014 as brands such as Chinese brands are taking share away from incumbents in the high growth China LTE
- USA & China remained the top LTE countries contributing to more than half of the global LTE shipments
- In TD-SCDMA segment, Chinese OEMs (Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo) dominated with a record combined share of 90% during the quarter
- In 3G UMTS/WCDMA segment, Samsung dominated in Q3 2014 with 24% share followed by Nokia, LG, Xiaomi, Alcatel One Touch and others