Tech research group Canalys reported that “thanks to the strong demand” of the iPhone 13, Apple accounted for 22% of worldwide smartphone shipments in Q4 2021. This means that the company beat Samsung, which fell from the top spot in Q3 2021 with a market share of 20%.
“Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by a stellar performance from the iPhone 13. Apple saw unprecedented iPhone performance in Mainland China, with aggressive pricing for its flagship devices keeping the value proposition strong. Apple’s supply chain is starting to recover, but it was still forced to cut production in Q4 amid shortages of key components and could not make enough iPhones to meet demand. In prioritized markets, it maintained adequate delivery times, but in some markets, its customers had to wait to get their hands on the latest iPhones,” said Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia.
Last year, it was reported that the factories run by Apple‘s suppliers—specifically for the iPhone and iPad—had halted production “for several days” in October. This meant that the factory workers got time off, but it was also the “first time in 10 years” that the production workers reportedly got time off—especially during the holiday season.
And due to Apple falling behind on production to meet demands, the company fell short in its production goals and reportedly “missed out on billions of dollars of revenue”. However, it didn’t stop them from still earning the top spot as the number one smartphone vendor of 2021’s fourth quarter.
Samsung, which took the top spot in Q3 of 2021, fell to second place with a 20% market share. Xiaomi maintained its third-place position with a 12% share—and Oppo and Vivo took the fourth and fifth place with 9% and 8% shares, respectively.
Canalys also shared a chart that showed the top five smartphone vendors in both Q4 2021 and Q4 2020. It showed how overall smartphone shipments grew just one percent globally due to the supply chain issues—which affected smaller smartphone vendors more than “titans such as Apple”.
According to Canalys, it may also take “several years” before component manufacturers are “able to sufficiently increase their production capacity to meet demand”. Industry bottlenecks are not expected to ease until the second half of 2022.
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