SA: Samsung and vivo are the fastest-growing 5G smartphone vendors in Q1 2021
The latest report from Strategy Analytics gives more insight into the sales of 5G phones for the January – March period. Samsung (17 million shipments) and vivo (19.4 million) saw the biggest gains on a per quarter basis as they grew by 79% and 62% respectively compared to Q4 2020. Apple still holds the lead with total shipments at 40.4 million but it lost considerable ground compared to last quarter’s 52.2 million shipments. Oppo with 21.5 million and Xiaomi with 16.6 million complete the top-four makers’ list.
| Vendor | Q4 2020 shipments (million) | Q4 2020 Market share | Q1 2021 shipments (million) | Q1 2021 Market share | Quarterly growth |
| Apple | 52.2 | 40.7% | 40.4 | 29.8% | -23% |
| Oppo | 13.9 | 10.9% | 21.5 | 15.8% | 55% |
| vivo | 12.0 | 9.4% | 19.4 | 14.3% | 62% |
| Samsung | 9.5 | 7.4% | 17.0 | 12.5% | 79% |
| Xiaomi | 11.8 | 9.2% | 16.6 | 12.2% | 41% |
| Others | 28.7 | 22.4% | 20.8 | 15.3% | -28% |
| Total | 128.1 | 100.00% | 135.7 | 100.00% | 6% |
| Source: Strategy Analytics, Global 5G Smartphone Vendor Shipments, Q1 2021 | |||||
Samsung’s rise was pushed by great demand for the Galaxy S21 series across South Korea, the US and parts of Europe. On the other hand, vivo saw strong sales across China and Europe. Xiaomi and Oppo also brought home solid sales volumes across China and Europe. Apple could not replicate the success it had during last quarter’s Holiday period.
Apple still holds the lead in total shipments of 5G smartphones
As a whole the 5G smartphone market grew by 6% on a per quarter basis, reaching 135.7 million shipments in total. Demand for 5G devices is naturally gaining traction across all regions with China, the US and Western Europe serving as the biggest driving markets. Strategy Analytics predicts 624 million 5G smartphone shipments by the end of the year.
