Smartphones first outsold feature phones worldwide on a full-year basis in 2013. Gartner reported that smartphones made up 53.6% of global mobile-phone sales that year, with 967.8 million units sold to end users. Earlier reports identified crossovers within individual quarters, but those figures use different measures and should not be confused with the full-year milestone.
What year did smartphones overtake feature phones worldwide?
The annual crossover happened in 2013. Gartner’s February 13, 2014 release says smartphones accounted for 53.6% of overall mobile-phone sales and exceeded annual feature-phone sales for the first time. Gartner counted 967.8 million smartphones sold to end users during the year. Gartner’s 2013 global sales results also show smartphone share reaching 57.6% in the fourth quarter.
Why do some reports say the crossover happened earlier in 2013?
Quarterly reports can name an earlier point because they describe a shorter period and may count a different kind of transaction. IDC reported that smartphone shipments exceeded feature-phone shipments in Q1 2013. Gartner then reported that smartphones represented 51.8% of mobile-phone sales in Q2, with 225 million smartphones compared with 210 million feature phones. IDC’s Q1 2013 shipment report and Ars Technica’s account of Gartner’s Q2 report describe those quarterly findings.
These are not competing answers to the same question. IDC’s Q1 result is about shipments; Gartner’s Q2 result is about sales in that quarter; Gartner’s 2013 result establishes the first full-year global sales crossover. Specify the period and measure when citing the earlier milestones.
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What do Gartner’s 2013 figures show?
| Measure | Gartner’s reported figure |
|---|---|
| Smartphones sold to end users worldwide in 2013 | 967.8 million |
| Smartphones’ share of all mobile-phone sales in 2013 | 53.6% |
| Smartphones’ share of mobile-phone sales in Q4 2013 | 57.6% |
| Largest smartphone vendors in Gartner’s 2013 table | Samsung: 299.8 million; Apple: 150.8 million |
The annual unit total and market share establish the overall shift; the vendor figures add context on who led smartphone sales in Gartner’s table. These numbers describe Gartner’s worldwide 2013 reporting, not the performance of every country or every quarter.
Did every country switch to smartphones in 2013?
No. The evidence establishes a global annual crossover, not the year in which smartphones outsold feature phones in each national market. Country-level adoption can differ, so the global 2013 milestone should not be applied to every market.
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