More than a fifth of every smartphone sold in the world in the fourth quarter of 2021 was an iPhone, according to a new report, as the coronavirus and supply chain shortages affected all manufacturers. With 22% of all smartphone sales worldwide, Apple has surpassed Samsung’s 20% share as the world’s most popular vendor. Demand for the iPhone 13 has propelled Apple to the top spot after several quarters of second place, according to new data from research firm Canalys.
Canalys’ Sanyam Chaurasia said in a statement: Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by the strong performance of the iPhone 13. Apple has seen unprecedented iPhone performance in mainland China, with its flagship Aggressive pricing of the device keeping its value proposition strong.
However, Apple was unable to meet the demand for iPhones due to shortages of key components, Chaurasia reports. In priority markets, [Apple] maintained adequate lead times, but in some markets, its customers had to wait to get their latest iPhones.
According to Nicole Peng, vice president of Canalys’ mobile business, the research firm predicts that “it will take several years for major foundries to ramp up chip capacity significantly.
Smartphone brands are already innovating to make the most of their environment, Peng said, adjusting device specifications based on existing materials, engaging with emerging chipmakers to secure new sources of ICs, and focusing product lines on the most Top-selling models, and staggering new product launches. These practices give big brands an edge, and they will remain in the short term as bottlenecks won’t ease until the second half of 2022.
While Apple tops the list of smartphone vendors in the fourth quarter of 2021, those numbers are down compared to the same period in 2020. At the time, Apple’s share was 23 percent, while Samsung’s was 17 percent.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple and Samsung will be followed by Xiaomi with 12%, OPPO with 9% and Vivo with 8%. Apple did not release specific iPhone sales figures. Separately, however, a recent report from Counterpoint Research claims that the iPhone 13 is currently the number one best-selling smartphone in China.