Samsung’s smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2016 fell 14 per cent year over year because of the disastrous Galaxy Note 7, according to Gartner.

The South Korean vendor had a good start to the quarter, but then the battery problem that bedevilled some Galaxy Note 7 smartphones hit sales of the flagship device.

The 14 per cent decline in Q3 was its worst performance ever, beating the previous low of a 12 per cent drop in the fourth quarter of 2014.

“The decision to withdraw the Galaxy Note 7 was correct, but the damage to Samsung’s brand will make it harder for the company to increase its smartphone sales in the short term,” said Anshul Gupta, Gartner’s research director.

“For Samsung, it’s crucial that the Galaxy S8 launches successfully, so that partners and customers regain trust in its brand”.

China’s big three
Three Chinese vendors – Huawei, Oppo and BBK Communication Equipment – were the only smartphone vendors in the top five to increase their global sales and market share in Q3.

Together the three accounted for 21 per cent of the smartphones sold to end-users worldwide.

China led the smartphone market in Q3, with sales of smartphones growing 12.4 per cent. China accounted for 81 per cent of Oppo’s smartphone sales and 89 per cent of BBK’s.

Oppo was ranked fourth globally in Q3 with a 6.7 per cent share (see chart below, click to enlarge), while BKK was fifth with a 5.3 per cent share. These two vendors also grew strongly in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia, said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

gartner-q3-global-smartphones
Global sales of smartphones to end-users increased 5.4 per cent to 373 million units. However, overall sales of mobile phones fell by 1.3 per cent due to the declining popularity of feature phones.

Apple’s iPhone sales continued to fall in Q3, with a 6.6 per cent decline. Apple accounted for 11.5 per cent of the global smartphone market (down from 13 per cent a year ago), its lowest share since the first quarter of 2009. Apple’s sales fell by 8.5 per cent in the US and by 31 per cent in China, two of its biggest markets.

Huawei remained third after expanding its share by 1 point to 8.7 per cent to move within three points of Apple. The Chinese vendor’s sales rose 18.6 per cent to 32.5 million units in the quarter.