'All time record': Apple tops smartphone market with strong iPhone 12 sales

Having shipped record iPhones in Q4 2020, Apple on Monday topped the global smartphone market, becoming the world’s biggest smartphone seller company, according to estimates from global market intelligence firm IDC and a survey by Gartner. After nearly 4 years, Apple’s record performance continued to boost with 4.3% year-over-year growth, an analysis by the firms stated. Based on the preliminary data generated by the International Data Corporation, while the smartphones collectively shipped a total of 385.9 million devices during the last quarter, Apple made impressive market recovery progress by beating leading smartphone companies like Samsung, overtaking 20.8 percent of the market. 

According to a Gartner's and IDC report, Apple shipped more than 79.9 million iPhones in the last three months last year, with a notable surge of 15 percent in sales since 2016, shrinking Samsung’s sales by 5.4 percent. Apple’s surge in iPhone 12 series demands predicts momentum for the brand heading into 2021 “will remain strong”. Research director with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers,  Nabila Popal, called the progress phenomenal, adding, “There are a lot of elements at play that is fueling the smartphone market recovery. Pent-up demand continued supply push on 5G, aggressive promotions, and the popularity of low to mid-priced phones.” As the world emerged out of the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, sellers prepared to fulfill orders and reach the end consumer as spending aimed at leisure, travel, and dining out shrank significantly.

“Smartphones are benefitting from this. In addition to all these factors, the fast recovery and resilience of the smartphone supply chain also have to be given some credit,” DC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers,  Nabila Popal said.

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Samsung drops to number 2

The analysis showed that Apple returned to the number 1 position, due to the success of the iPhone 12 series, and the IDC report showed the highest shipment volume from vendors for the device in a single quarter. Apple’s iPhone 12 series demand surge led to a 23.4 percent market share increase and 22.2 percent year-over-year growth, as per the metrics. Meanwhile, Samsung slipped to the number 2 position on the index with 73.9 million device shipments and dropped to 19.1 percent in market share value. Xiaomi finished the quarter in the third position with shipments of 43.3 million and 11.2% market share while OPPO was fourth with shipments of 33.8 million and 8.8% market share, according to the global market intelligence. "The recovery of both the smartphone market and its supply chain has been truly impressive and the year-end growth is testament to how far we've come," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. Further, he added that the sale of the smartphone was rebounding like nothing seen before. 

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