Research firm IDC yesterday released its estimates on worldwide mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2013, showing Apple losing some ground in the smartphone market with only 6.6% year-over-year growth compared to 41.6% growth for the entire market. Still, Apple maintained a firm grasp on the number two spot behind Samsung, as challengers LG, Huawei, and ZTE were unable to reach the 5% mark during the quarter.
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Apple's smartphone shipment volume hit a new first-quarter high thanks in part to the iPhone 5, with volume growing 6.6% year over year. However, the last time the iPhone maker posted a single-digit year-over-year growth rate was 3Q09. The iPhone maker has held the second spot in the smartphone rankings for the past five quarters. Apple's mix of models shipped to market is increasingly diversified as it tries to reach new buyers.
Apple does, however, continue to ride the wave of popularity for smartphones, with IDC noting that smartphones outsold feature phones for the first time during the quarter. As a result, Apple's 6.6% year-over-growth outpaced the 4.0% growth rate of the mobile phone market as a whole, allowing Apple to creep up to an 8.9% share.
Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking!
Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.
See, this is interesting. I have to disagree with you on all these points.
The battery life on the iPhone isn't poor compared to the industry in general. It's actually pretty good. Sure, it could be better - but it certainly isn't bad.
The iPhone 5 screen is widely considered to be among the best screens available on any consumer device. If you consider all things, not just the PPI then you see things more clearly... no pun intended! OK. Pun intended.
Screen size is smaller, yes - this is a preference thing. I, for one, am glad that Apple hasn't gone crazy with the massive screens. This article on The Verge was a breath of fresh air for me - finally some people talking sense about screen sizes: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4230996/motorola-developing-android-phones-with-stock-software-just-right-size
As for price, other high end smartphones are roughly the same price offline. The Galaxy s4, for example, is around £600 offline here in the UK. About the same as a 32GB iPhone 5. Plus, with the iPhone, you don't get the tacky cheap plastic and the bloatware - and you get support! Software updates, an amazing ecosystem and people to talk to. All worth money to me.
Obviously, all things are down to personal taste in the end, but to claim that the iPhone has a poor battery and a poor screen and is too expensive is just factually incorrect.
What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.
Do you really find the screens on Samsung phones that much better? The ones I've seen in person have been horribly color-balanced.
