Market Share ‘Up for Grabs’ in Global Smartphones: IDC

Global Q2 smartphone shipments grew 13.2% year over year to 313.2 million handsets, further evidence “this market is headed back toward sustained growth,” reported IDC Thursday. All regions contributed to the growth except China, where shipments declined 10% from the 2020 quarter. IDC blamed the Chinese decrease on the lack of flagship product launches there, plus weaker than expected consumer demand and “the further decline of the Huawei brand.” Shipments of 5G phones are “on the rise,” especially in developed markets, “but we continue to believe that consumers are not yet buying specifically for 5G,” said IDC analyst Ryan Reith. “They are buying because they need a replacement device, and in some cases a first-time smartphone.” With Huawei shipments waning and LG exiting the smartphone business, “market share is up for grabs,” resulting in “some significant shifts in the market positions” of the surviving companies during the quarter, said IDC. Xiaomi moved into the second position for the first time in Q2, pushing Apple down to third. Samsung stayed the market leader in Q2, but with only a 2-point edge over Xiaomi, compared with its 5.9-point lead over Apple in the year-earlier quarter.