On Monday, Apple announced that it had lost its leading position among the world’s largest phone manufacturers. This was revealed by data from analyst house IDC, which showed that Apple’s phone deliveries in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 10 percent due to strong competition from new top-end phone models.
In contrast, global shipments of phones increased by 7.8 percent to 289.4 million devices in the first three months. Samsung took the lead with a market share of 20.8 percent, having shipped more than 60 million phones in that period and recording an impressive 8 percent increase for the S24 series compared to the previous year’s model.
Apple, on the other hand, saw a decline to 17.3 percent market share, delivering just 50.1 million devices in the first quarter – a whopping 5 million less than the same period last year. The decline is attributed to restrictions on the use of Apple devices in China and competition from Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Transsion, and Oppo.
The top five phone manufacturers also included Xiaomi, which took third place with a market share of 14.1 percent; Transsion took fourth with a market share of 9.9 percent; and Oppo took fifth with an impressive market share of 8.7 percent. IDC predicts that Samsung and Apple will remain at the top but also anticipates the recovery of Huawei in China and the rise of Chinese brands, which will force both companies to expand and diversify their offerings to remain competitive in this highly competitive industry.
