Xiaomi on Its Way to the Smartphone Throne - Only Samsung Left to Beat
Samsung remained the leader of the smartphone market in the second quarter of this year. Xiaomi however, breaths down its neck, having already overtaken Apple.
- Samsung continues to lead...;
- ... but Xiaomi is right on its heels;
- Apple has dropped to third place;
- The smartphone market is consolidating.
The analytics group IDC published a report summarizing the results of smartphone sales worldwide in the second quarter of this year. At the top of the list of the largest manufacturers of these devices was traditionally Samsung. In the aforementioned three months, the Koreans sent 59 million phones to the market, which is four million more than in the same period last year.
Much more interesting things are happening behind Samsung, showing how much the market is changing. The second place with 53.1 million smartphones was taken by Xiaomi. Its growth is extremely dynamic - in the first quarter of 2020 it boasted a result of 28.5 million devices. Thus, during the year the kompany recorded an increase of as much as 84%.
Such dynamic growth enabled Xiaomi to overtake Apple on the second place, which had to settle for third spot despite an increase in sales of 17%. Looking at the trends, the Chinese manufacturer has a good chance to overtake Samsung and become the largest manufacturer of smartphones.
In the top five we can also find OPPO (32.8 million phones) and vivo (31.6 million). In the second quarter, a total of 313.2 million smartphones were sent to market, of which manufacturers other than the top five accounted for only 94 million units (15.2% less than in the second quarter of 2020), which shows that the market for these devices is increasingly consolidating.
Smartphone sales increased in most countries. The exception is China, which saw a decline of 10% compared to last year. This is to be blamed on the lack of major launches, Huawei's weakening position and lower than expected demand.
The results of the smartphone market in the second quarter of 2021
Company | Smartphones shipped to market in Q2 2021 | Market share in Q2 2021. | Smartphones shipped to market in Q2 2020 | Market share in Q2 2020. | Change from last year |
1. Samsung | 59 million | 18,8% | 54 million | 19,5% | 9,3% |
2. Xiaomi | 53.1 million | 16,9% | 28.5 million | 10,3% | 86,6% |
3. Apple | 44.2 million | 14,1% | 37.6 million | 13,6% | 17,8% |
4. OPPO | 32.8 million | 10,5% | 24.0 million | 8,7% | 37% |
5. vivo | 31.6 million | 10,1% | 23.7 million | 8,6% | 33,7% |
Other producers | 92.4 million | 29,5% | 109 million | 39,4% | -15,2% |
Total | 313.2 million | 100% | 276.6 million | 100.0% | 13,2% |
When analyzing the above statement, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, it includes only new phones manufactured under the brand name of a given company, and not those manufactured for other companies. Secondly, the data is only an estimate and the final numbers may differ slightly from the official ones.
