IDC: Smartphone sales return to growth in Q4, Apple takes the lead
We have the latest IDC report on worldwide smartphone shipments and after a highly turbulent year, things settled down in the October 1 – December 31 period. The market saw a bounce-back quarter with a total of 385.9 million shipments headlined by Apple’s 90.1 million share. As a whole, the market grew by 4.3% compared to Q4 2019 and all top smartphone vendors (sans Huawei) saw positive growth levels to end off 2020.
Fueled by the release of its iPhone 12 series, Apple saw the best shipment volume of any vendor in a single quarter which rightfully translated to a 22.2% year over year growth. Samsung was second in terms of shipments for the period with 73.9 million units sold for the quarter and a 6.2% yearly growth as it saw continued growth in the entry and mid-range segment across all major markets.
| Company | Q4 2020 Shipments (in million) |
Q4 2020 Market share |
Q4 2019 Shipments (in million) |
Q4 2019 Market share |
Yearly growth |
| Apple | 90.1 | 23.4% | 73.8 | 19.9% | 22.2% |
| Samsung | 73.9 | 19.1% | 69.5 | 18.8% | 6.2% |
| Xiaomi | 43.3 | 11.2% | 32.8 | 8.9% | 32.0% |
| Oppo | 33.8 | 8.8% | 30.6 | 8.3% | 10.7% |
| Huawei | 32.3 | 8.4% | 56.2 | 15.2% | -42.4% |
| Others | 112.4 | 29.1% | 107.1 | 28.9% | 5.0% |
| Total | 385.9 | 100% | 369.9 | 100% | 4.3% |
Xiaomi came in third with 43.4 million shipments and the highest year to year growth of all vendors in Q4 at 32% flat. Oppo followed suit with 33.8 million shipments and 10.7% yearly growth while Huawei plummeted from 56.2 million shipments in Q4 2019 to just 32.2 million in Q4 2020 resulting in a 42.4% decrease in shipment volumes.
Despite the strong outing in the last quarter of 2020, the year was rough for the smartphone market shipments declined by roughly 6% compared to 2019 values. Apart from Xiaomi (+17.6%), Apple (+7.9%), and vivo (+1.5%) all major brands saw decreased shipments on the yearly basis. Samsung still held the crown in terms of shipment volume with 266.7 million units shipped for the year. Apple managed 206.1 million while Huawei contributed 189 million shipments for the calendar year.
| Company | 2020 Shipments (in million) |
2020 Market share |
2019 Shipments (in million) |
2019 Market share |
Yearly growth |
| Samsung | 266.7 | 20.6% | 295.8 | 21.6% | -9.8% |
| Apple | 206.1 | 15.9% | 191.0 | 13.9% | 7.9% |
| Huawei | 189.0 | 14.6% | 240.6 | 17.5 % | -21.5% |
| Xiaomi | 147.8 | 11.4% | 125.6 | 9.2% | 17.6% |
| vivo | 111.7 | 8.6% | 110.1 | 8.0% | 1.5% |
| Others | 371.0 | 28.7% | 409.5 | 29.8% | -9.4% |
| Total | 1,292.2 | 100% | 1,372.6 | 100% | -5.9% |
The combined total of shipped smartphones for 2020 came out to 1.29 billion units which is 5.9% less than the 2019 total which was 1,37 billion units. IDC believes that 2021 will be a bounce-back year for the smartphone market and shipment levels will eventually return to pre-pandemic figures.
Reader comments
If you count from q1 to q4, Samsung shipped 9.8% less than last year according to IDC and 14% less according to Canalys and Counterpoint. How can it win manufacturer of the Year? Xiaomi on the other hand, increased their shipments by 17% acco...
With iPhone its already outdated in terms of aesthetics. People who have the to spend 2000$ don't have to worry about a device getting outdated. They can buy a new one next year without it making a dent in their bank balance.
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