The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may be 8 months old now, but they continue to outsell Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices around the world. The latest data from Counterpoint Research shows that while the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge have soared to third- and fourth-place, Apple’s devices continue to dominate the first and second spots.
This is still a very good achievement for Samsung, given that the data was recorded just 20 days after the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge first went on sale. It means around 6 million Galaxy S6 devices were sold during that time, exceeding launch sales of last year’s Galaxy S5.
However, it’s estimated that 40% of the handsets Samsung had produced by the end of April were still sat in distribution channels waiting to be sold. That’s not unusual for a new device, Counterpoint says, but in comparison, Apple’s iPhones tend to be sold out for weeks after launch.
“The standard Galaxy S6 sold slightly more than the S6 Edge, but the S6 Edge showed much higher initial interest,” reads the Counterpoint report. “The Galaxy S6 series was 21% of the Samsung’s total smartphone sales during April 2015 compared to Galaxy S5 which was only 16% of the Samsung’s smartphone sales in April 2014.”
Counterpoint Research Director Neil Shah believes Samsung could have sold more S6 edge units had it not run into supply issues. The South Korean company has admitted that it underestimated the demand for its dual-curved device, and it had to open up another factory just to meet it.
The fact that Apple was able to beat Samsung’s smartphone sales with 7-month-old devices is a testament to the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which rank first and second respectively in Counterpoint’s top ten list as they continue to be the world’s best-selling smartphones.
Sales of the iPhone 6 series were 51% higher than sales of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c combined last year, Counterpoint reports.
Xiaomi’s Redmi 2 was ranked fifth in the Counterpoint top ten, while Samsung’s Note 4 ranked sixth, the iPhone 5s ranked seventh, the Galaxy S5 ranked eighth, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note ranked ninth. Microsoft’s Lumia 435 entered the top ten for the first time to take the tenth spot.
