MADRID, 7 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The global mobile phone market has fallen by 14% in the first quarter of the year to 280.2 million shipments, however Apple has barely fallen by 2%, which has allowed it to register its best first quarter in market share with 21%, according to data published by Counterpoint.

Thus, the Cupertino-based company has sold more than one in five mobile phones placed on the market between January and March, which has helped it capture almost half of the sector's income in these three months.

Counterpoint Research Director Jeff Fieldhack has pointed out that Apple has managed to fill Huawei's gap in the premium segment in China, as well as that Apple customers are more hesitant to switch to a cheaper mobile in situations of economic crisis due to loyalty to the ecosystem of services built by the company.

For his part, Harmeet Singh Walia, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, points out that this is the start of the year with the lowest sales for the industry since 2013 and attributes it to the slow recovery in China, the doubts of the banking system and the lower supply of novelties by manufacturers given the high inventories maintained by the distribution chain.

Between January and March, 280.2 million phones have been shipped, 46 million less than in the same period last year. Samsung has registered 60.6 million shipments, 19% less, while Apple, 58 million.

However, the sector's revenues have fallen by 7%, half that of sales, to 104,000 million dollars (944,000 million euros.

This is due to the fact that the main companies in the sector have increased the prices of their terminals, as has happened with Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, according to the consultancy.

These trends are also seen in the Spanish market. Thus, for example, Orange Spain managed to boost its income from the sale of electronic equipment in the first quarter, influenced in part by this increase in the unit value of telephones.