Samsung maintains an uneasy first place annually
It was found that Apple rose to the top in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 12 series. This is the result of the absorption of most of Huawei’s premium products in the Chinese market by Apple, not Samsung.
According to market research firm IDC, Apple, the number one smartphone shipment volume in the fourth quarter of last year, recorded 90.1 million units. It increased by 22.2% year-on-year. The world market share accounted for 23.4%. The first iPhone 12 series equipped with 5G communication (5G) was found to lead the growth. The proportion of iPhone sales in the Chinese markets such as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan accounted for 57%.
On the other hand, Samsung Electronics, which took first place in the third quarter of last year, fell to second place. Smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter were 73.9 million units, up 6.2% from the same period last year. The market share was 19.1%. It was down 3.6 percentage points from the previous quarter. Xiaomi, which ranked third, shipped 43.3 million units, accounting for 11.2% of the market share.
Huawei, China, which has been sanctioned by the US government in earnest since last year, fell to fifth place. Smartphone shipments were 32.3 million units, down 42.4% year-on-year.
Market research firm Canalis also announced that in the fourth quarter of last year, Apple sold a total of 81.8 million iPhones, ranking first. The market share is 23%. Second place Samsung sold 62 million units, accounting for a 17% market share. Xiaomi, which ranked third, shipped 43.4 million units, representing a 12% market share. Huawei was pushed out of fifth place.
Global smartphone shipments this year are expected to decrease slightly from the previous year. According to Canalis, global smartphone shipments this year are expected to decrease by 2% from the previous year to 3590.6 million units. It is predicted that Apple will take the first place and Samsung Electronics will take the second place.
Samsung, which took first place in the third quarter of last year, gave Apple the first place in the first quarter. Samsung will officially launch the Galaxy S21 series in 60 countries around the world on the 29th to face the iPhone 12 box office.
Samsung announced its outlook for the first quarter of this year in a conference call for the fourth quarter of last year on the 28th. Seong-koo Kim, Senior Vice President of Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Division, announced, “We expect both sales and profits to increase QoQ thanks to the expansion of flagship sales and the launch of new mid- to low-end models following the early launch of the Galaxy S21.”
According to the announcement that day, Samsung Electronics sold 67 million mobile phones in the fourth quarter of last year. Smartphones account for about 90% of these.
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