Realme announces Europe’s first ‘chameleon’ smartphone
A release date is yet to be announced for the new device
Manufacturers - Megan Robinson
February 2, 2022
The top spot changed four times throughout 2021 and supply issues impacted all vendors.
The European smartphone market increased by eight per cent year-on-year in 2021, but not enough to compensate for 2020’s 14 per cent decline.
Counterpoint Research revealed Samsung took first spot with 32 per cent of the European market share and a growth of 6pc YoY thanks to the release of the Galaxy S21 series.
Apple took second position with a 25pc growth in 2021, and the sales of its first 5G iPhone helped gain 26pc of the European market.
During Q2 2021, Samsung suffered supply issues which meant Xiaomi became number one in Europe for the first time in June.
This helped the vendor take third position in 2021 with a 20pc market share and a 50pc growth.
Oppo, realme and vivo held a 8pc, 2pc and 1pc share, as well as a huge growth of 94pc, 162pc and 207pc respectively.
Counterpoint Research’s Associate Director, Jan Stryjak said: “It is great to see the European smartphone market growing in 2021, but that only tells half the story; COVID-19 impacts resulted in a 14pc annual drop in sales in 2020, which means the market is still well-below pre-pandemic levels.”
Stryjak added, “a major factor to consider, though, is the decline of Huawei. Huawei’s sales dropped by almost 90% annually in Europe in 2021, leaving it with less than 1% market share and in 8th position (down from 4th in 2020).”
