Apple overtook Samsung in smartphone sales in the last quarter of last year.
It’s the first time the achievement has been logged in four years, according to Gartner, and is fueled by the popularity of the iPhone 12, which was a significant leap forward for iPhone.
According to Gartner, Apple saw year-on-year growth of almost 15%, whilst Samsung saw its sales slump 11.8% in the same period. Over the year, Apple enjoyed growth of around 2.2%, whilst Samsung’s overall sales fell by 14.6%, perhaps as a result of the pandemic.
“The launch of the 5G iPhone 12 series helped Apple record double-digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2020. Apple surpassed Samsung to retake the No. 1 global smartphone vendor spot. The last time Apple was the top smartphone vendor was in the fourth quarter of 2016,” a spokesperson for the research company said in its recent note.
“Samsung experienced a year-on-year decline of 14.6% in 2020, but this did not prevent it from retaining its No. 1 global smartphone vendor position in full-year results. It faced tough competition from regional smartphone vendors such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo as these brands grew more aggressive in global markets. In 2020, Apple and Xiaomi were the only two smartphone vendors of the top five rankings to experience growth.”
What’s interesting to note is that, across all smartphone makers, sales of smartphones were down 12.5% last year.
Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner, said: “The sales of more 5G smartphones and lower-to-mid-tier smartphones minimized the market decline in the fourth quarter of 2020. Even as consumers remained cautious in their spending and held off on some discretionary purchases, 5G smartphones and pro-camera features encouraged some end users to purchase new smartphones or upgrade their current smartphones in the quarter.”
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