In what could be taken as a sign that the global smartphone market is maturing, analysts at TrendForce project that sales from January through March will be about 5% lower than the fourth quarter of 2013. The first time sales will have dropped sequentially since 2011.
TrendForce analyst Wilson Miao said that it shows the smartphone market is growing up and now exhibits signs of seasonality.
As most would expect, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate, however it is worth noting that LG and Sony are seeing their performance improve.
Sony is doing particularly well in Japan, as it’s Japanese share has topped 20%, and its global share rose to around 5% in the third quarter.
LG has seen its partnership with Google to produce Nexus phones grow its global share to 4.2%.
