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Africa|Automotive|Business|Huawei
Africa|Automotive|Business|Huawei
africa|automotive|business|huawei

Global smartphone market expanded by 13.2% in second quarter

27th August 2021

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Despite supply concerns and “vendor shakeups”, the global smartphone market expanded by 13.2% in the second quarter of 2021, the International Data Corporation (IDC) says.

Data from the IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows that the rebound from 2020 continued into 2021, surpassing IDC’s overall shipment volume forecast of 12.5% second-quarter growth.

Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 313.2-million devices during the quarter, indicating that the market is heading back towards sustained growth.

According to the IDC, every region, barring China, contributed to the overall growth.

In China, a lack of flagship product launches, weaker-than-expected demand and the further decline of the Huawei brand led to a 10% growth for the second quarter of 2021.

“The smartphone market has been fortunate enough to not experience the same severe supply constraints as the automotive, personal computer and display industries,” explains IDC mobile and consumer device trackers programme VP Ryan Reith.

Consumers around the world continue to show the need for mobile devices and a willingness to spend in these categories.

“Shipments of fifth-generation (5G) devices are on the rise, especially as price points go down, but we continue to believe that consumers are not yet buying specifically for 5G. They are buying because they need a replacement device, and, in some cases, a first-time smartphone,” he continues.

Meanwhile, with the continued decline in Huawei shipments and LG’s exit of the smartphone business, market share is up for grabs, which is resulting in significant shifts in the market positions of the remaining companies.

Samsung remained in first place during the quarter under review, with 59-million devices shipped and a market share of 18.8%. This compared with 54-million and a market share of 19.5% in the second quarter of 2020.

Xiaomi, with a market share of 16.9% and shipment volumes of 53.1-million, moved into the second position for the first time in the second quarter of 2021, shifting Apple into third place. In the second quarter of 2020, Xiaomi shipped 28.5-million smartphones and held a share of 10.3%.

Apple secured a market share of 14.1%, with shipments of 44.2-million devices, an increase on the market share of 13.6% and shipments of 37.6-million devices in the comparative quarter last year.

OPPO and vivo also increased their respective market shares to 10.5% and 10.1%, with shipments of 32.8-million and 31.6-million respectively during the quarter under review.

For OPPO, this represented a significant increase on the 24-million devices shipped and 8.7% market share reported in the corresponding quarter in 2020.

Similarly, vivo made inroads from its second quarter of 2020 shipments of 23.7-million devices and market share of 8.6%.

Reith points out that, in the markets where Huawei and LG are strongest, such as China and the US respectively, companies face “different chances” of gaining that share.

“In the US, Motorola, TCL and OnePlus experienced year-over-year gains beyond what they have seen in recent years owing to LG’s departure. “In China, it is the usual suspects – Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and Apple – that continue to gain from Huawei’s rapid decline.”

“China’s role in Apple’s incredible growth in the last few quarters cannot be denied. Huawei had significant share in the high-end segment in China, and with its massive decline, Apple remained the best option for consumers in this segment.”

During the first quarter of 2021, Apple had already captured a 72% share of the below-$800 segment in China, with Huawei falling to just 24%.

“This is a clear sign that other players in this market have not breached this price segment,” adds IDC mobile and consumer device trackers research director Nabila Popal.

Globally, all Chinese brands are growing rapidly, with Xiaomi hitting record volumes in the second quarter and year-over-year growth of 86.6%.

“Another rising star is realme, which saw the fastest year-over-year growth among the Top 10 at 149% and more than three quarters of its volume coming from outside China,” she notes.

“As all these Chinese brands increase their focus in regions like Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, the competition will only get more intense for the likes of Samsung and other players in those markets.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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