Pie charts are traditionally used to compare numbers and data sets within the chart. This is easily done by comparing the numbers provided by the creator of the chart, or simply by comparing the area of each portion of the pie. This can be highly effective when comparing few data sets against each other, allowing the reader to easily visualize each portion of ‘pie’ a data set may represent.

In my example, I created a pie chart out of the data found through multiple sources on the internet, which display the monopoly held in the smartphone market. In it, we can note that Samsung is the largest individual slice of the global market. The ‘Others’ portion is represented by small companies looking to make a name for themselves. The beauty of simplifying all the small companies into one slice and representing them as a group is that it allows me, the creator of the pie chart, to represent an accurate representation of the global smartphone market, while emphasizing the major stakeholders.

I find that this method of displaying my data is the most effective, given that my goal is to make the viewer compare each companies share in the marketplace. I feel that there is the possibility of there being a better method to display this data, but as to my current knowledge, this is the best method.

By creating a pie chart, there are a variety of ways to demonstrate the data you choose. I found this way to be the most effective at providing a quick and easy understanding of what the viewer will be looking at, while given a small amount of context.