Bad News for BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) and Apple Inc. (AAPL); Good News for Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are both facing the heat from cheap Android manufacturers, but whereas BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) had already shed enough ground to reduce it as a niche player, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is also witnessing the iOS and iPhone craze reducing like never before. But the ‘joker in the pack’ turns out to be Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which even though is not a major player when it comes to smartphones, has still managed to increase its market share in the past one year. Craig Bujnowski, recently shared a tweet displaying the market shares in the second quarter of 2013 and 2014 of smartphone manufacturers from across the world.

most valuable brands in 2013

As it is evident after comparing the market shares, all major manufacturers like Samsung, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), LG, Sony and others have lost their grounds to Android based Chinese phone companies and surprise, surprise Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is not even represented in the list, perhaps finding its place in the ‘others’ section, which itself lost market share.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers are playing on the strengths of Android and cheap hardware, and represent a tough competition to the erstwhile smartphone leaders. Samsung is the one who has lost the most market share from 30% a year earlier to barely 25% now. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has lost almost 1%, going down from 12.6% to 11.7%. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which acquired Nokia’s phone division earlier this year saw its market share rise from 3.0% to 3.3%. All the Chinese phone manufacturers Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and others saw a hefty increase in their market share. With the upcoming launch of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s Passport and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 6 it remains to be seen if they can regain market share and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will need to demonstrate that its increase in market share was not a one time fluke.

Disclosure: None