Apple beats Samsung in terms of global smartphone shipment in Q4, 2020: IDC

The global smartphone shipment in the fourth quarter rebounded after the decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Apple became the top contributor in the rebound, says the market research firm IDC.

As per the data, the manufacturers altogether shipped 385.9 million mobile phones in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year decline in overall shipments of 5.9% and an increase of 4.3% over the same period last year. IDC stated that multiple factors may have contributed to this recovery and the statement of the research director is as follows:

“There are many factors at work that are driving the recovery of the smartphone market: pent-up demand, continuous supply of 5G, aggressive promotions, and the popularity of low- and medium-priced phones,” IDC Global Mobile Device Tracking Research Director Nabila Popal said in a statement.

Apple regained the crown of smartphone shipments with a year-on-year growth of 22.2% during the quarter, which IDC described as an ‘amazing performance.’ Thanks to the sales of the iPhone 12 series, Apple shipped 90.1 million devices in the quarter, which was the highest number of manufacturers shipped in a single quarter. In total, Apple now has 23.4% of the smartphone market.

Samsung slipped to second place this quarter, with 73.9 million devices shipped, an increase of 6.2%, and a market share of 19.1%. Xiaomi ranked third with 43.3 million device shipments and 11.2% market share. OPPO got the fourth rank with 33.8 million units shipped and an 8.8% market share.

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Huawei has dropped 43.3% year on year as an impact of the US sanctions. The Chinese phone maker ranked fifth with a shipment of 32.3 million and a market share of 8.4%. Apple’s top competitor, Samsung, did not perform so well in the quarter, with its mobile business sales revenue falling 11% during the quarter.

However, the South Korean tech giant has recently unveiled its new Galaxy S21 lineup in the market and it will be worth seeing what progress the company makes in this fresh quarter of 2021. Not only the flagship, but Samsung has also launched several mid-range and budget smartphones to capture a large amount of share in the market.

While Apple announced its first-quarter results for the 2021 fiscal year. According to the report, as of December 26, 2020, Apple’s first-quarter revenue was 111.439 billion USD, an increase of 21% from 918.19 billion USD in the same period last year. It exceeded 100 billion USD for the first time, setting a record high and surpassing analysts’ previous expectations. Apple’s mobile business revenue increased by about 17% over the previous year.

(Via)