Market researcher Canalys released its first quarterly report for smartphone shares this year. According to them, the market steadily grew and surged, despite the chipset shortages.
Canalys noted that Xiaomi is growing really fast. ““In addition to great product value, Xiaomi is now also making strides to recruit local talent, become more channel-friendly and lead in high-end innovation, as seen with the Mi 11 Ultra and its recent foldable, the Mi Mix Fold” said Canalys Research Manager Ben Stanton. He also noted that the recent aggressive movements of the company has made them more profitable in contrast to their rival BBK electronics, in particular Oppo, Vivo and Realme. However, he also noted that both Oppo and Vivo are greatly competing against Xiaomi in the midrange and the budget segment. In addition, their newest challenger, and former Huawei division, Honor, is also seen as a looming and rising threat.
Canalys also noted an event in smartphone history that should not be forgotten, that is, the departure of LG from the smartphone business. Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia has noted that aggressive pricing and ‘channel strategy’ are more important than hardware differentiation or innovation in the modern day. With the loss of LG, manufacturers like ZTE, Nokia, Motorola and TCL are presented new opportunities to become more aggressive in sales in the North American region.
As seen on the table presented by Canalys, Samsung and Apple are in the lead, and once again, Huawei is nowhere to be seen. The once top dog, and even defeated Samsung in early 2020 is now gone, with Xiaomi currently replacing them. Three of the five companies are Chinese and two of them are BBK, these are Oppo and Vivo situated at fourth and fifth place respectively.
Due to the pandemic, the demand for devices exploded rapidly. It is more evident today where there is 75 million more units shipped in contrast to last year. According to Canalys, manufacturers are now shifting their focus to key regions that have completely, or almost completely recovered from COVID-19 such as in Europe.
Source: Canalys Newsroom