Global smartphone market recovered to pre-COVID levels in 2021: Canalys

The global smartphone market recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021 by posting a year-on-year growth of seven percent to 1.35 billion shipments, a report said. The growth was reported despite component shortages due to the pandemic, which most players in the market globally are still dealing with. Samsung retained its market leadership in the year with a 20 percent share. It was followed by Apple. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo were the other three in the list of top five smartphone vendors globally.

Analyst firm Canalys reported on Friday that the global smartphone market reached 1.35 billion units in 2021, close to the 1.37 billion unit shipment mark of 2019. This year’s shipments were also higher than the 1.26 billion units shipped in 2020.

“Many vendors delivered their best performances in 2021, growing smartphone shipments by double digits to match, and exceed, pre-COVID-19 levels,” Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said in a prepared statement. “The main growth driver for the industry came from the huge mass market segment, particularly in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Latin America. Unfortunately, this segment also saw the most severe component shortages, particularly in low-end 4G chipsets.”

Samsung continued to lead the global market in 2021, among other players. The South Korean company shipped 274.5 million smartphone units, 19 million more than the 255.5 million units shipped in 2020 — representing an annual growth of seven percent. However, Samsung retained the 20 percent market share it captured in the previous year, the Canalys report said.

Apple remained in second place with 230.1 million units shipped for the year. The Cupertino company managed to ship 22.9 million more iPhone units than the 207.2 million units shipped in 2020, for an 11 percent annual growth. It also increased its market share to 17 percent from 16 percent a year earlier.

After Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi came in third. The Chinese company captured a 14 percent market share by shipping 191.2 million units in 2021.

Xiaomi was followed by Oppo and Vivo which respectively achieved 11 and 10 percent market share last year. Oppo shipped 145.1 million units in the year, including OnePlus shipments. Vivo’s shipments, on the other hand, grew to 129.9 million, Canalys said.

The report shows that the market share of other players fell to 28 percent in 2021 from 33 percent in the previous year.

Global smartphone shipments and growth for full 2021 according to Canalys

“Apple’s record year in smartphones is no surprise, but Samsung was hit hard by supply and production issues in the year, and its main volume driver, the Galaxy A series, saw shortages across the globe,” said Canalys Research Analyst Le Xuan Chiew. “However, Samsung has been focused on driving profitability, particularly through its high-end portfolio. The Galaxy S and Z families have been key in offsetting its declining volume share against Chinese vendors in the global market.”

Canalys said that the global smartphone market shipped 363 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, up 1 percent year-on-year.

Apple led the market in the fourth quarter of 2021 with 82.7 million units shipped, resulting in a 23 percent share. However, Samsung came in second, with 70.5 million units shipped, resulting in a 19 percent share, the company said.

Xiaomi also retained its third position in terms of quarterly shipments, shipping 45.4 million units and capturing a 13 percent share, according to Canalys.

Oppo and Vivo were the remaining brands on the list of top five smartphone vendors in the world in Q4 2021.

Global smartphone shipments and growth in Q4 2021 according to Canalys

Canalys predicts that ongoing supply constraints will gradually ease as chipmakers ramp up production and the price of 5G chipsets drops. This would eventually lead to 5G devices becoming the next volume driver in 2022, Chaurasia said.