Following a Q4 2016 with record sales on the smartphone market, Apple was unanimously declared the global leader in this segment. With 77.8 million iPhone terminals sold in Q4 2016, according to Apple's official documentation, those from Cupertino surpassed Samsung's sales in the same period by approximately 1 million units.
All the agencies specialized in analyzing the global markets of mobile terminals say that Samsung sold approximately 76 million smartphones in Q4 2016. Without official data from the Koreans, we can only believe the analysts, and that's how Samsung is placed below Apple in smartphone sales, although the difference could be greater.
However, in Q4 2016, Apple regained the title of the largest smartphone seller for the first time in many years, and this although no one expected. The failure of the Galaxy Note 7 allowed Apple to surpass Samsung in sales in Q4 2016, so the future promises to be extremely interesting for those from Cupertino, despite a not very good 2016.
It is hard to say when Apple will overtake Samsung in smartphone sales, but Q4 2017 could be the next fiscal year. In the rest of the year, Samsung sells more because the vast majority of its smartphones are cheaper than the iPhone, so it generates higher sales, and that's how Apple is defeated.
