People pass by advertisements for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Series smartphone at a shop in Seoul on April 28, 2021.Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd reclaimed its crown as the world’s biggest smartphone maker from Apple in the first quarter, cornering a fifth of overall global shipments.
China’s Xiaomi Corp rounded out the top three positions with its best quarterly performance ever as shipments surged 62 per cent to 49 million phones and its market share rose to 14 per cent, market research firm Canalys said.
Overall, global shipments surged 27 per cent to 347 million units in the first quarter as the Chinese economy opened up after the pandemic and a swift vaccine rollout in the United States raised hopes of an economic recovery.
South Korea’s Samsung shipped 76.5 million smartphones in the quarter to grab a 22 per cent share of the market, Canalys said. The company on Thursday reported a 66 per cent surge in quarterly profit in its mobiles business, thanks to robust sales of its flagship Galaxy S21 smartphone series.
Canalys said Apple shipped 52.4 million iPhones in the January-March period, falling to the second spot with a 15 per cent share of the market.
Apple still grabbed record market share in the United States, China, India and Japan, Counterpoint analyst Varun Mishra said, adding that the iPhone Pro Max was a top seller in the United States.
Smartphone sales have surged over the past year as people stayed and worked from home. But the shopping frenzy has fuelled a global shortage in semiconductor chips that has roiled industries including autos and large appliances.
“Supply of critical components, such as chipsets, has quickly become a major concern, and will hinder smartphone shipments in the coming quarters,” Canalys analyst Ben Stanton said.
Apple said on Wednesday that the chip shortage could cost the company $3 billion to $4 billion in revenue in the April-June quarter, affecting primarily iPads and Macbooks.
March-quarter smartphone shipments for China’s Oppo and Vivo brands also surged, Canalys said. But Huawei, the former No. 1 that remains shackled by U.S. sanctions, took only seventh place after selling its Honor brand last year.
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