Investors were surprised by better than expected sales of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 7 in the final quarter of last year. The strength allowed it a position it has not held for some time. Apple topped Samsung in global smartphone shipments, reversing a lead Samsung has enjoyed for several quarters.

Total smartphone sales growth has tapered off. According to Strategy Analytics, shipments in 2016 were up only 3% to 1.488 billion. The fourth quarter was somewhat better with 9% growth to 438 million. Apple shipped 78.3 million phones for a 17.8% share of the market. Samsung shipped 77.5 million for a 17.7% share. It was a large turnaround from the fourth quarter of 2015 when Apple had an 18.6% share of the 408 million phones shipped and Samsung was at 20.2%. Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, commented on the reason for the shift:

Apple shipped 78.3 million smartphones worldwide and captured 18 percent marketshare in Q4 2016, rising a steady 5 percent annually from 74.8 million units in Q4 2015. This was the iPhone’s best performance for over a year, as Apple capitalized on Samsung’s recent missteps. Samsung shipped 77.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2016, dipping 5 percent annually from 81.3 million units in Q4 2015. Samsung lost momentum in the quarter as a result of its Note 7 battery fiasco.

He also said the launch of the Galaxy S8 may help Samsung’s position.

Two Chinese rivals are in rapid pursuit of the two market leaders. Huawai sales were 32.6 million in the last quarter of 2015 and reached 44.9 million in the final quarter of 2016. The performance of OPPO was even more impressive. Its sales rose from 14.8 million to 29.5 million for the most recent period. Its rivals are lucky OPPO sells virtually all its phones in one country. Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics commented:

 OPPO held on to fourth position and grew a robust 99 percent annually to capture a record 7 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q4 2016, almost doubling from 4 percent a year ago. OPPO has grown swiftly in China with popular Android models such as the R9. OPPO’s next challenge in 2017 is to expand beyond China and continue its momentum in emerging regions like India and Nigeria.

Given that all the large smartphone companies want a big piece of the Indian market, OPPO’s challenge is substantial.

For the time being, however, Apple has taken back the number one position.

Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Marketshare in Q4 2016

Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q4 ’15	2015	Q4 ’16	2016
Samsung	81.3	319.7	77.5	309.4
Apple	74.8	231.5	78.3	215.4
Huawei	32.6	107.1	44.9	138.8
OPPO	14.8	39.7	29.5	84.6
Vivo	13.3	39.0	25.6	71.9
Others	186.2	703.2	182.9	668.1
Total	403.0	1440.2	438.7	1488.2
Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare (%)	Q4 ’15	2015	Q4 ’16	2016
Samsung	20.2%	22.2%	17.7%	20.8%
Apple	18.6%	16.1%	17.8%	14.5%
Huawei	8.1%	7.4%	10.2%	9.3%
OPPO	3.7%	2.8%	6.7%	5.7%
Vivo	3.3%	2.7%	5.8%	4.8%
Others	46.2%	48.8%	41.7%	44.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Total Growth: Year-over-Year (%)	6.0%	12.2%	8.9%	3.3%
Source: Strategy Analytics

Numbers are rounded.

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