The global smartphone market declined 4% YoY but grew 32% QoQ to reach 366 million units in Q3 2020.
This recovery was driven by all key markets, like the US, India and Latin America, returning slowly to normal due to eased lockdown conditions. The smartphone market has shown resilience to the ill effects of COVID-19 both from the supply and demand side.
Samsung regained the top spot, shipping 79.8 million units to register 47% QoQ and 2% YoY growth. This is the highest ever shipment by Samsung in the last three years. The company managed to recover in markets including India, Western Europe and LATAM, driven by new models like the Note 20 and from the A-series. A-series 5G SKUs showed solid uptake in the US. In India, Samsung surpassed Xiaomi to become the No. 1 player, driven by the success of the M Series. Huawei was the runner-up in the global market but showed a declining trend as its share dropped from 20% in Q2 2020 to 14% in Q3 2020. Rapid growth of realme continued during the quarter. It grew 132% QoQ in shipments volume, representing the strongest growth momentum among major global OEMs.
Xiaomi grew 75% QoQ to grab 13% share for the quarter. Notably, this was also the first time when Xiaomi surpassed Apple to capture the third spot. Research Analyst Abhilash Kumar said, “Xiaomi reached its highest-ever shipments at 46.2 million units in Q3 2020. In China, Xiaomi’s struggle for growth ended and shipments were up 28% YoY and 35% QoQ. This impressive show by Xiaomi in China was driven by a series of campaigns and promotions during the brand’s decennial celebrations in August. Also, in new markets like LATAM, Europe and the MEA, Xiaomi’s share expanded rapidly at the expense of Huawei amid US-China trade sanctions. The brand is also performing well in Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam”.
Source: counterpoint