Apple overtook Samsung in smartphone sales in the quarter for the first time in four years. This is reported by the 9to5mac edition with reference to the Gartner report.
Apple’s fourth-quarter 2020 sales grew 14.9 percent year-on-year, according to the market research agency. At the same time, the number of deliveries of phones from one of the main competitors of the American corporation – Samsung – decreased by 11.8 percent. For all of 2020, Apple grew 3.3 percent, while Samsung’s sales plummeted 14.6 percent.
Analysts recalled that the last time Apple bypassed Samsung in the smartphone market was at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016. That year, Tim Cook’s company launched the iPhone 7 flagship line.
Samsung is facing strong global competition. The share of the corporation declined due to the aggressive expansion of Chinese manufacturers – Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. At the same time, a strong decline in shipments did not prevent the Korean company from maintaining its leadership in the global smartphone market.
According to Gartner, global smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 decreased by 5.4 percent. For a full year, sales fell 12.5 percent. Analysts noted that many users decided to upgrade their devices for 5G and improved cameras, but most consumers were careful about spending and refrained from shopping.
Previously, Counterpoint Research experts said that Xiaomi and Samsung, with shares of 31 and 27 percent, respectively, took leading positions in the Russian smartphone market in 2020. The share of Apple, which ranks third in the top, was 15.5 percent.