Published 4/11/17 Just today, Samsung beat Apple to the punch at being the #1 smartphone brand. This is usual as Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker but in Q4 2016, Apple was the #1 smartphone brand. This was because earlier Samsung was failing after its infamous Samsung Galaxy Note 7 disaster. Samsung was able to retake Apple after its new Galaxy S8. But why now? Why not in May as usual after the Galaxy S8 launches? This is probably because Samsung now does an 8-point battery check.