Global smartphone sales figures for 2017 released - Samsung still kings, Xiaomi now fifth-largest brand

Samsung posted its sale figures for 2017 last week. The company recorded a massive year-on-year boost in revenue across all arms of its business, and it looks like its smartphone division also saw significant growth. According to reports by IDC and Strategy Analytics, the South Korean giants are the still the biggest fish in the smartphone pond, and by a decent margin.

The company recorded a total of 74.4 million shipments in Q4 2017, and an annual grand total of 317.5 million. That's a 4% year-on-year drop for the last quarter, and a 2.6% year-on-year rise in total annual shipments. What this means is that the company had a lackluster Q4 when compared to last year, but other performed better in other quarters this time. It's also important to consider that the Note 7 was cancelled last year, so it's surprising that last year's Q4 was still better. You'd expect the reverse to be the case, really.

In terms of market share, the company dominates with 21.1% of the market, up from 20.8% last year. Apple comes in second with 14.3%, down from 14.5% last year. Those are the market share figures for the entire year, though. As has become customary, Apple leads the pack when only Q4 is considered. The Cupertino-based company sits at the top of the pyramid with 19.3% of the market share, while Samsung comes in second with 18.6%. That's no surprise, as the company dominates sales with its late-year iPhone releases that serve as perfect holiday purchases. Samsung's last major release, on the other hand, was the Note 8 that was released in September. The Note series offers niche, premium devices that cannot be expected to compete with the iPhones, so the Q4 numbers are expected.

Elsewhere on the table, Huawei sits comfortably in third. Far enough from both Apple in second and OPPO in fourth. Like Samsung, the company saw a year-on-year boost in annual shipments, but a drop in Q4 shipments, when compared to the same period in 2016.

OPPO comes in fourth, like they have for a while now. The company saw significant growth this year, both in total annual shipments and market share. A tad surprising, considering the company's absence from western markets.

Xiaomi were 2017's biggest winners. The company moved up from the sixth position to go fifth, pushing Vivo out out the way in the process. The company saw close to an 80% rise in sales numbers, both in Q4 and the total annual figures. Global market share also saw a similar total annual rise.