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Worldwide smartphone sales grew 6 per cent in 2021. According to a report by Gartner Inc, smartphone sales rebounded in the first half of 2021, after recording a 12.5 per cent decline in 2020.
“The previous year’s lower smartphone sales because of Covid-19 and the bounce-back in the first half of 2021 helped propel the market to growth,” it said.
However, smartphone sales were disrupted in the second half of 2021 owing to component shortages and supply chain issues.
“An improved consumer outlook, pent-up demand from 2020 in large markets such as India and China, helped drive sales in the first half of the year,” said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner.
“However, this trend reversed in the second half of the year, even with high demand from consumers. Out-of-stock situations for popular models and limited inventories pushed out some of the possible sales to 2022,” said Gupta.
The 6 per cent growth in 2021 was driven by an increase in discretionary spending, the opening of marketplaces post lockdown, along with a lower base for comparison from 2020.
Further, the introduction of 5G at lower price points to meet future needs influenced upgrade purchases.
As a result, smartphone sales grew for all the top five vendors in 2021, Gartner said.
Samsung has the largest market share
Samsung held the first spot in the global market with a 19 per cent market share, growing 7.6 per cent YoY, followed by Apple, which held a 16.7 per market share in 2021. Apple recorded 19.7 per cent growth in the year. Xiaomi, recording the highest growth during the year among the top five (29.8 per cent), took the third spot with a 13.2 per cent market share. Oppo, which grew 23.7 per cent, held a 9.6 per cent market share, closely followed by Vivo with a 9.5 per cent share in 2021. Vivo recorded 26.7 per cent growth in sales during the year.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, global smartphone sales declined 1.7 per cent due to supply constraints.
Apple maintained its lead among the top five smartphone vendors. “The strong demand for iPhones was driven by 5G upgrades,” the report said.
Samsung witnessed strong demand for its premium phones, and its sales increased 11 per cent as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020
“Chinese smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo expanded their distribution networks in West Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to capture the opportunities left open by Huawei and LG after their exit from the smartphone business in 2020,” the report further added.
“However, Apple’s strong sales in China in the fourth quarter of 2021 weakened demand for Chinese smartphones,” it added.
Oppo and Vivo experienced a decline in sales, whereas Xiaomi continued to maintain the third position among the top five.
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