Apple's smartphone marketshare drops to less than 14 percent

As smartphones continue to dominate globally, Apple's marketshare versus lead competitor Samsung continues to slip, new market research from Strategy Analytics shows. In all, the smartphone market had a good showing in the most recent financial quarter, which ended on June 30th. Global smartphone shipments reached 230 million units, representing 47 percent annual growth. Of those, Samsung phones comprised one-third. Apple's numbers are not so sunny, dropping from a global marketshare of 16.6 percent in 2012 to 13.6 percent in 2013. "Samsung grew 56 percent annually and shipped a record 76.0 million smartphones worldwide," said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston, in conjunction with the report. "Apple grew just 20 percent... Apple's global smartphone marketshare of 14 percent is at its lowest level since the second quarter of 2010. The current iPhone portfolio is under-performing and Apple is at risk of being trapped in a pincer movement between rival 3-inch Android models at the low-end and 5-inch Android models at the high-end." In all, it's good news for Android game developers, as we see the global market on a continuing upward trend. We brought you news last week that China -- the largest installed smartphone base in the world -- spends around 50 percent of its app time on games, with Android users again topping out on game time versus iOS users.