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Samsung is the top-selling smartphone company in the world (again)

Also, Apple drops out of the top three.

Samsung smartphone
Image: Unsplash

According to data from IDC, the third quarter of 2020 showed that the smartphone market is in full recovery mode. Their data revealed that worldwide smartphone shipments declined only by 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. This came as a big surprise for IDC, as their previous forecast was that worldwide smartphone shipments would experience a 9% decline on a year-to-year basis.

All in all, 353.6 million smartphones were shipped during the third quarter of 2020.  IDC data also revealed some additional, interesting shifts in the smartphone market.

IDC data showed that there was a change in the top position. Samsung dethroned Huawei, and once again, it was the top-selling smartphone maker in the world. The shift at the top was no surprise considering the US trade ban that forbids US companies from doing any business with the Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei.

As a result, Samsung recorded a 2.9%, year-over-year growth and shipped 80.4 million smartphones

Its market share is now 22.7%. Samsung did exceptionally well in India, its largest market, where it recorded nearly 40% growth on a year-to-year basis. Much of this growth was propelled because of its performance in the low-end smartphone segment where the company’s M series dominated the market. In their second-biggest market, the US, their growth was driven by the popularity of the A-series.

At the same time, Huawei experienced a massive 22% decline on a year-to-year basis. Their market share has shrunk to just 14.7%, managing to sell only 51.9 million smartphones in Q3 of 2020. Even in China, Huawei’s sales dropped by 15% – due to US sanctions.

Unlike Huawei, Xiaomi had a strong quarter in which it managed to push out Apple from the number three position. The company managed this by performing strongly in both India and China. Xiaomi managed to capture consumers’ attention with their Redmi 9 series, then the Redmi K30 ultra, and the MI 10 Ultra. Xiaomi’s sales were up by 42% in the third quarter of 2020. As a result, its market share is now set at 13.1%, which is enough for them to be the third most popular smartphone seller in the world.

Then there is Apple, which managed to ship just 46.1 million iPhones during the third quarter. That’s a 10.5% decline on a year-to-year basis. However, the drop was expected because of the late launch of the new iPhone 12 series. Simultaneously, their iPhone 11 series performed remarkably on the market, making most of Apple’s volume. Early demand for iPhone 12 suggests strong growth in the upcoming quarters.

Vivo rounds out the top five most popular smartphone brands on the market, commanding an 8.9% market share. In Q3, they sold approximately 31.5 million smartphones and recorded a 4.2% year-to-year growth. A big part of their growth is due to their low-end models in India. On the other side, their X and S series performed very strong in China.

Overall, it’s definitely been an interesting year for smartphone manufactures.

What do you think? Surprised by the drop by Apple or Samsung’s dominance of the worldwide market? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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