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News - Paul Lipscombe
June 8, 2021
Samsung leads the way ahead of Apple and Chinese rivals
Global smartphone sales grew 26 per cent during the first quarter of 2021.
According to Garter figures, 377.9 million units were shipped worldwide during the first quarter of the year, despite the pandemic and chipset shortages.
The growth has been attributed to improved consumer outlook, plus pent-up demand from 2020.
Samsung sold the most smartphones during the quarter with 76.6m, to grab a fifth of the overall market share (20.3 per cent).
Apple sold the second most, with 58.5m units to claim 15.5pc market share, followed by Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo to complete the top five.
Pent-up demand
Gartner senior research director Anshul Gupta said: “The improvement in consumer outlook, sustained learning and working from home, along with pent-up demand from 2020 boosted sales of smartphones in the first quarter.
“However, one cannot ignore that the base for comparison is also lower in 2020, than it was in 2019. This explains the double-digit growth.”
However the analyst firm warned that the worsening chipset crisis is likely to impact the coming quarters, with the average selling price rising.
