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CNET
As Apple readies for the release of its next-generation iPhone , its latest version is still going strong.
According to a new survey by market researcher Counterpoint, the iPhone 5S sold 7 million units in May, making it the bestselling smartphone in the world. Coming in second was Samsung’s Galaxy S5, which sold 5 million units. To get this data, Counterpoint culled sales data from surveys of major retailers and distributors across 35 countries.
These numbers may come as a blow to Samsung, seeing as how it fired up sales of its Galaxy S5 in April and the iPhone 5S has been on sale since last September.
While the Galaxy S5 appeared to be going strong in its debut month, sales have since slowed. The sluggish smartphone market led the company to predict last week a 24 percent decline in operating profit for the second quarter, which would be its third straight quarterly drop.
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As Apple’s iPhone 5S still sees strong sales, its iPhone 5C has seen a drop off. According to Counterpoint, the company’s lower-cost smartphone saw fewer sales in May than Samsung’s older Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note III.
Besides Apple and Samsung, another company that did well on the world smartphone market was Chinese company Xiaomi. Two of its smartphones made Counterpoint’s top 10 list — the MI3 and Hongmi Red Rice. These devices have recently become more available in overseas markets, which appears to have boosted the company’s global sales volumes.
A trend that Counterpoint noticed in its May survey is that several of the smartphones on the top 10 list were phablets. In fact, nearly 40 percent of smartphones sold in May were phablets. If rumors prove true and Apple does come out with a larger smartphone sometime soon, Counterpoint predicts it will do well on the market.
“If Apple comes out with a phablet later this year it will instantly become a hit and top the list of phablets within two months of availability,” Counterpoint wrote in a blog post.
Counterpoint
