Smartphones: global market share forecast 2011-2017, by country

This statistic shows the global market share of smartphone shipments in 2011 and offers a forecast for 2013 and 2017, broken down by country. The source predicts that China will be the leading market for smartphone shipments by 2017.

Global smartphone market share - additional information

Over a third of the world’s population is forecast to own a smartphone by 2017, with China predicted to hold over 30 percent of this market. Both India and China have rapidly growing economies and they are expected to hold almost 50 percent combined of the global smartphone market share in 2017, in comparison to the estimated 20 percent they held in 2011.

Samsung is by far the most popular mobile phone provider in China with the company holding almost a 25 percent market share in the country. In 2015 Samsung is forecast to sell 50 million units in China alone, with Apple projected to sell 31 million. The U.S. market is predicted to shrink from 21.3 percent in 2011 to just over 12 percent by 2017, although two of the largest Operating Systems, Android and iOS, are controlled by American firms.

The Indian smartphone industry is forecast to be the fastest growing market with a projected fivefold increase in its market share between 2011 and 2017. In 2013, 6.2 percent of the Indian population used a smartphone, but this number is due to increase to over 20 percent by 2018. As with China, Samsung was the most popular vendor of smartphones in 2013, with Android overtaking Symbian and Apple as the most popular Operating System.