Samsung leads the smartphone market in 2021 - Apple catches up, Xiaomi breaks away from Vivo and OPPO

Analytical agency Counterpoint Research has published a report on the study of the smartphone market at the end of 2021.

What is known

The market grew for the first time since 2017, when total shipments amounted to 1.5665 billion units. In 2021, 4% more devices were shipped than a year earlier - 1.3911 billion against 1.3312 billion units.

Samsung continues to be the leader, increasing shipments by 6% (from 255.7 million to 270.7 million). But Apple is closing the gap no less confidently. The Cupertino-based company shipped 237.9 million smartphones, up 18% from a year earlier. The gap narrowed in the fourth quarter. During the last three months of 2021, Apple shipped 81.5 million smartphones to the market, while Samsung shipped 67.2 million.

Xiaomi closes the top three. The Beijing manufacturer, having increased shipments by 31% (from 145.7 million to 190.4 million units), slightly broke away from OPPO (143.2 million, + 28%) and Vivo (131.3 million, + 21%), which ranked fourth and fifth, respectively). All other companies delivered a total of 413.3 million smartphones to the market in 2021, 18% less than in 2020.

A source: Counterpoint Research