Samsung leads Q3 2021 mobile market in North America

Samsung is back on top in the North America market. The report was by Strategy Analytics. It’s the same firm that showed Huawei was out of the Top 5 and said shipments were up in the first quarter by 24%. Samsung was also No. 1 then. In some regions in the 2nd quarter, Samsung dropped out of the first ranking because of Xiaomi and Apple. In Q3 2021, about 93 percent of the shipments to North America were captured by the top five OEMs. However, year-on-year, shipments saw a seven percent decline.

Strategy Analytics’ Director Ken Hyers shared Samsung showed an annual shipment growth of 5 percent. It’s good news since Apple took over the past three quarters in the region. One possible reason of this increase by Samsung was because LG left a void. It used to hold 14 percent share in the NA region.

Samsung’s recent success is mainly thanks to the affordable Galaxy A phones and the Galaxy S21 flagship phones. The new foldable phones also helped.

In second place is Apple–driven by the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 13 5G. The numbers may increase in Q4 2021. Strategy Analytics noted the number would have been better if there was no chip shortage and manufacturing disruption in Asia.

Just like Apple and other OEMs, Samsung faced challenges. Shortage of components were seen. That’s why there have been reports of launch cancellations and postponements. The Galaxy Note 21 was a no go but Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

In the fourth quarter, we can anticipate better performance by the phone makers. It’s the holiday season so more people will buy new devices starting with Black Friday. We’re expecting more Galaxy Z phones will be sold especially in North America.