More than 20 million additional smartphones sold in the first quarter of this year put Samsung in first place among brand manufacturers. But Apple is following almost immediately with an additional 18 million units, the two giants give and in the end don't take much.
Apple's growth of almost 41 million iPhones sold in the first quarter of last year to now almost 59 million units is already impressive, but Samsung was even able to surpass this with its broad portfolio. According to market researchers from Gartner, the curve there went up from a little over 55 to almost 77 million units. In percentage terms, however, everyone in the other places has grown faster than Samsung.
Three small ones grow tall
The other manufacturers in the top 5 show that growth is not limited to the two market leaders. Xiaomi was also able to sell almost 20 million more units than a year ago, increasing its share by almost two-thirds, with Vivo and Oppo following at a rapid pace with a plus of more than 16 or 14 million additional units sold and very large percentage profits.
deliveries Q1 2020
deliveries change Q1 2021
Market share Q1 2020
Market share Samsung 76.6 55.3 + 38% 20.3% 18.4% Apple 58.6 40.9 + 43% 15.5% 13.6% Xiaomi 48.9 29.7 + 65% 12.9% 9.9% Vivo 38.7 22.3 + 74% 10.2% 7.4% Oppo 38.4 23.9 + 61% 10.2% 8.0% Other 116, 8 127.8 –9% 30.9% 42.6% Total 378.0 300.0 +26% 100.0% 100.0% Source: Gartner – figures in millions of pieces
The bottom line is that the five big manufacturers are now selling significantly more than all the others on the market combined. In the end, they were even able to steal shares from them, which is primarily due to the Chinese brands. 3rd to 5th place is poaching in the Asian region in price ranges in which Apple is not represented at all and Samsung is only represented to a very limited extent. Above all, however, all of them have virtually pushed Huawei out of the market – with the ongoing sanctions in the USA, no re-entry will be possible there anytime soon. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Huawei had sold around 34 million units – too few for the new list.