Oppo beats Samsung in global smartphone sales during Q1 2017

Zac Hall | May 10 2017 - 9:55 am PT

New data from Strategy Analytics points to a surprise runner-up to Apple on the list of top selling smartphone makers during the first quarter of 2017. Thanks in part to Samsung’s Note 7 misfortune, Chinese company Oppo is ranked #3 globally with its R9s smartphone.

Strategy Analytics shows that Apple’s iPhone 7 was the top-selling smartphone during the first quarter of 2017 despite a slight year-over-year drop in sales. While Apple doesn’t release iPhone sales by model, Strategy Analytics estimates that the iPhone 7 accounted for 6.1% of total smartphones shipped while the iPhone 7 Plus captured 4.9% of shipments.

According to the research, Apple shipped 21.5 million iPhone 7 models during the first quarter of the year while the pricier iPhone 7 Plus made up 17.4 million units. In total, Strategy Analytics says 353.3 million smartphones were sold during Q1 2017 which is slightly up from 333.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.

In total, Apple said it sold 50.7 million iPhones during the previous quarter which leaves just over 10 million units to older models.

What may be surprising to western countries including the United States is which company came in third place: Oppo. The Chinese brand is ranked between Apple and Samsung with its R9s smartphone capturing 2.5% of shipments during the first quarter of the year.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “OPPO R9s shipped 8.9 million units for third place and 3 percent marketshare worldwide in Q1 2017. OPPO is largely unknown in the Western world, but its brand is wildly popular in China and growing rapidly across India. The R9s is OPPO’s flagship 4G device with key features such as dual-SIM connectivity and fingerprint security.”

Oppo may have been boosted by Samsung’s misfortune, too, as the Korean company ranked fourth and fifth place which its Galaxy J3 and J5 smartphones following the Galaxy Note 7 recall. Samsung’s current flagship, the Galaxy S8, launched in the current quarter.