Smartphone Market Share

Despite Supply Concerns and Vendor Shakeups the Global Smartphone Market Still Grew 13.2% in the Second Quarter, according to IDC

NEEDHAM, Mass., July 29, 2021 – The rebound from 2020 continued for smartphones in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q21) as overall shipment volumes grew 13.2% slightly beating IDC’s forecast of 12.5% growth. According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 313.2 million devices during the quarter which further proves this market is headed back toward future growth. Overall growth was experienced in every region except for China where the lack of flagship product launches, weaker than expected demand, and the further decline of the Huawei brand pulled the market down by -10% YoY.

“The smartphone market has been fortunate enough to not experience as severe supply constraints as the automotive, PC and display industries," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “The pandemic is far from over yet consumers around the world continue to show the need for mobile devices and their willingness to spend in these categories. 5G volumes continues to rise especially as price points of many 5G products go down, yet we continue to believe that consumers are not yet buying specifically for 5G. They are buying because they are in need of a replacement device, and in some cases, a first time smartphone."

As Huawei share continues to fall coupled with the recent announcement of LG exiting the smartphone business market share is up for grab. In 2Q21 we saw some fairly significant ranking shifts among the big brands most notably Xiaomi moving into the second spot for the first time in history, moving Apple to third spot. Regionally, when you look at markets where Huawei primarily plays (China) and the same for LG (USA), different vendors stand different chances of gaining that share. For instance, in the US brands like Motorola, TCL, and OnePlus experienced YoY gains beyond what they have seen in recent years due to LG’s drop out of the Top 3 this quarter. In China, it is the usual suspects of Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and also Apple who continue to gain on the back of Huawei's rapid decline.

"China's role in Apple's incredible growth in the last few quarters cannot be denied. Huawei had significant share of the high end segment in China, and with its recent massive decline, Apple remained the best option for consumers in this space. In 1Q21, Apple had 72% share of the China >$800 segment, with Huawei having 24%. A clear sign other players in this market have not breached this price segment." said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "Globally, all Chinese brands are growing rapidly, with Xiaomi hitting record volume this quarter with 86.6% YoY. However, another rising star is notably realme - with the fastest growth amongst the top 10 at 149% YoY and over 76% of its volume coming from outside China. As all these Chinese brands increase their focus in regions like Europe, Latin America and Middle East and Africa, the competition will only get more intense for the likes of Samsung and other local players in those markets."