By Godson Umejiego, Correspondent USA

The pace of recovery for the smartphone market accelerated in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21) with 25.5 per cent year-over-year shipment growth. According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped nearly 346 million devices during the quarter. The strong growth came from all regions with the greatest gains coming from China and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China). As the two largest regions globally, accounting for half of all global shipments, these regions experienced 30 per cent and 28 per cent year-over-year growth, respectively.

“The recovery is proceeding faster than we expected, clearly demonstrating a healthy appetite for smartphones globally. But amidst this phenomenal growth, we must remember that we are comparing against one of the worst quarters in smartphone history,1Q20, the start of the pandemic when the bulk of the supply chain was at a halt and China was in full lockdown,” said research director with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, Nabila Popal. “However, the growth is still very real; when compared to two years ago (1Q19), shipments are 11 per cent higher. The growth is coming from years of repressed refresh cycles with a boost from 5G. But above all, it is a clear illustration of how smartphones are becoming an increasingly important element of our everyday life – a trend that is expected to continue as we head into a post-pandemic world with many consumers carrying forward the new smartphone use cases which emerged from the pandemic.”

As the smartphone market is recovering, a major shift is happening in the competitive landscape. Huawei is finally out of the Top 5 for the first time in many years, after suffering heavy declines under the increased weight of US sanctions. Taking advantage of this are the Chinese vendors Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, which all grew share over last quarter landing them in 3rd, 4th, and 5th places globally during the quarter with 14.1 per cent, 10.8 per cent, and 10.1 per cent share, respectively. All three vendors are increasing their focus in international markets where Huawei had grown its share in recent years. In the low- to mid-priced segment, it is these vendors that are gaining the most from Huawei’s decline, while most of the high-end share is going to Apple and Samsung. Samsung regained the top spot in 1Q21 with impressive shipments of 75.3 million and 21.8 per cent share. The new S21 series did well for Samsung, mainly thanks to a successful pricing strategy shaving off US$200 from last year’s flagship launch. Apple, with continued success of its iPhone 12 series, lost some share from their very strong holiday quarter but still shipped an impressive 55.2 million iPhones grabbing 16.0 per cent share.

“While Huawei continues its decline in the smartphone market, we’ve also learned that LG is exiting the market altogether,” said programme vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, Ryan Reith. “Most of LG’s volume was in the Americas with North America accounting for over 50 per cent of its volume and Latin America another 30 per cent. Despite the vendor losing ground in recent years, they still had 9 per cent of the North America market and 6 per cent of Latin America. Their exit creates some immediate opportunity for other brands. With competition being more cutthroat than ever, especially at the low-end, it is safe to assume that 6-10 brands are eyeing this share opportunity.”