Global smartphone market ends 2021 with 3.4% YoY growth despite shipment decline in 4Q21

 

Here is a brief rundown of the report –

  1. In terms of smartphone shipments, Samsung retains the top spot yet again, with a staggering 271.5 million units shipped in 2021 alone.
  2. The biggest jump, percentage-wise, in 2021 came from Realme. The company shipped 48.6 percent more smartphones in 2021 than in 2020, up from 39.1 million units to 58.1 million.
  3. Huawei saw shipments fall a staggering 81.6 percent, compared to 2020 – shipping 35.0 million units, down from 189.7 million units in 2020.
  4. When analyzing the market on a quarterly basis, Apple took the top spot, shipping 87.0 million units, up 2.9 percent YoY, compared to the 84.5 million units shipped in 4Q20.
  5. The big three Chinese OEMs, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo all saw YoY and QoQ declines in 4Q21.
  6. Motorola, in 8th place, increased shipments by 27.6 percent YoY, from 9.8 million units in 4Q20 to 12.5 million units this year.

Lack of components supply had a relatively greater impact on the production of low-end smartphones, leading to a decrease in shipments of these OEMs. This is still ongoing and is expected to exist as a risk factor for the smartphone market this year.