Although Samsung Electronics maintained the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market last year, it gave the throne to Apple in the fourth quarter. Samsung Electronics is planning to widen the gap with Apple by strengthening its lineup of low-end smartphones this year.
According to a market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 19th, Samsung Electronics held the first place with 19% of the global smartphone market last year. Apple ranked second with a 15% market share. In 2019, the share gap between Samsung Electronics and Apple was 7%, but it decreased to 4% in one year.
Samsung ranked first in smartphones last year, and Apple and Xiaomi advanced in the fourth quarter
– In the fourth quarter, Samsung Electronics turned over to Apple and fell to second place. According to IDC and Eugene Investment & Securities, Apple has recovered 20% of its global market share for the first time since 2012 thanks to the launch of the iPhone 12 series and strong sales. Smartphone shipments recorded 87.4 million units, up 19% from the previous year.
On the other hand, Samsung Electronics had a market share of only 17% in the fourth quarter of last year. Shipments were 63.63 million units, down 8% from the previous year.
Huawei’s sluggishness and Xiaomi’s progress were also remarkable. Huawei’s smartphone shipments, which were sanctioned by the U.S., fell 42% year-on-year to 32.34 million units. During the same period, Huawei accounted for only 8% of the total global smartphone shipments of 37.43 million units.
Instead, Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter increased by 31% year-on-year to 43.33 million units, rapidly filling the vacancy of Huawei. IDC predicted that Xiaomi will see rapid growth this year as it benefited from Huawei’s sluggishness.
Xiaomi threatens Samsung Electronics in emerging markets in India and Russia
– Xiaomi is also threatening Samsung Electronics in emerging smartphone markets such as India and Russia. In Russia, Samsung Electronics ranked first in total smartphone sales in the fourth quarter, but Xiaomi (31%) outperformed Samsung Electronics (27%) in the online smartphone market.
Last year, Xiaomi ranked first (41%) and Samsung Electronics ranked second (21%) in the Indian smartphone market. India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China.
Samsung Electronics plans to reinforce its line-up of mid-to-low-priced smartphones this year with a high cost-performance ratio (price-performance) in order to outperform Apple and Xiaomi in the global smartphone market.
![Xiaomi's 5G smartphone Mi10 Lite. [사진 샤오미]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202102/19/5f2ff411-c605-4272-a871-1b9b6162cce3.jpg?w=900&ssl=1)
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Xiaomi’s 5G smartphone Mi10 Lite. [사진 샤오미]
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Samsung reinforces its mid- to low-end lineup… Apple and Xiaomi chase blocked
– The recently released Galaxy A12 is equipped with a quad camera on a 6.5-inch Infinity-V display even though it is priced around 200,000 won. This month, starting with the Galaxy A32, it will introduce mid-range 5G smartphones such as the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 to the global market.
In addition, Samsung Electronics’ India subsidiary is releasing the low-end smartphone Galaxy F62 on the 22nd. The application processor (AP) is equipped with Exynos 9825, and its battery capacity is 7000 milliamps (㎃h), which is more than twice the battery capacity of the iPhone 12 (2815 ㎃h). Despite its high performance, the price is around 300,000 won.
An industry insider said, “Emerging markets such as India and Russia are the land of opportunities to significantly increase smartphone shipments.” said.
Reporter Park Hyung-soo [email protected]
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