IDC numbers confirm global smartphone market growth in 2021

IDC posted its Q4 report on the smartphone market, and with the 2021 ending, it also summed up its performance for the full year. According to the data, the overall smartphone market saw a 5.7% increase in shipments despite a sluggish final quarter of the year that saw a 3.2% decline.

The top five companies remained Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, and vivo, in this exact order, while the Others section saw a decline of 12.5% overall.

The second half of 2021 failed to meet expectations, revealed Ryan Reith, group VP at IDC. The biggest issue in front of companies was the component shortages, and it will continue through the first half of 2022 as well.

Expectations are growth to return in the second quarter of this year, and demand remains strong in many markets, as consumers are interested in 5G products and foldables.

Speaking about Q4 in particular, Apple managed to sell more phones than any other company, thanks to the iPhone 13 series, which was a massive part of Apple’s 85 million sales. Samsung and Xiaomi followed, and they were the only two companies, out of the top 5, to record a positive change on a yearly basis.

Nabila Popal, research director at IDC, revealed that despite the issues in the industry, the 5.7% growth is a positive thing because it would’ve been even bigger. He estimates there is a “significant pent-up demand in almost all regions”, and it will help the market once the supply constraints ease up towards the middle of the year.

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