Strategy Analytics: Global Smartphone Shipments increased—Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo on the rise!

Newest data from Strategy Analytics revealed that smartphone shipments in Q1 2021 grew by 24 percent YoY—the highest since 2015.

File photo: Xiaomi Mi 11

Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo on the rise!

According to the research firm, the market rebound was driven by the healthy demand of consumers with aging devices and the "phenomenal" 5G push by Chinese mobile makers.

Data from Strategy Analytics

South Korea's Samsung retained the top spot with 23 percent of the market share followed by Apple with 17 percent of the pie. Both grew by 32 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

But, the Chinese trio of Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo recorded even better growth percentages.

Xiaomi is at number 3 with 15 percent of the market share followed by OPPO and vivo with 11 percent each. The three grew by 80 percent, 68 percent, and 85 percent, respectively.

Linda Sui, Senior Director, at Strategy Analytics, said, The China smartphone market had a sensational quarter driven by 5G product success across multiple price tiers. China smartphone shipments were up +35% YoY reaching 94 million units in Q1 2021. Globally, the top five vendors combined took a 76% market share in Q1 2021, up from 71% one year ago. Chip shortages and supply side constraints did not have a significant impact in Q1 among the top 5 brands but was and will be a concern for smaller vendors over the next few quarters in our view.

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added: Samsung remains the largest vendor shipping 77 million smartphones globally in the first quarter, growing +32% YoY from 58 million units in Q1 2020. Samsung’s newly launched more affordable A series 4G and 5G phones, and the earlier launched Galaxy S21 series combined drove solid performance in the quarter. Apple shipped 57 million units iPhones worldwide, capturing second place with a 17% volume market share. The strong momentum behind the 5G iPhone 12 series continued across multiple markets.

Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, noted: Xiaomi held third place in terms of volume of smartphones shipped for the second quarter in a row. It shipped 49 million smartphones globally and took a 15% market share in Q1 2021, up from 10% one year ago. The vendor maintained strong momentum in both India and China, and the expansion in Europe, Latin America and Africa region also started to bear fruit. OPPO (not including Realme and OnePlus) won 11% market share and remained the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter, followed by vivo. vivo grew an impressive 85% YOY in Q1 2021.

The "Others" market recorded 24 percent of the market share, but they declined by 23 percent YoY.

For the first time in years, innovative Chinese tech giant Huawei was not included in the top 5. Huawei is at number 2 last year.

Source: Strategy Analytics