Loses Ground to Xiaomi and Apple
Samsung Electronics took third place in the 5th-generation (5G) smartphone market in Eastern Europe. It lost its market share to China's Xiaomi, which rose to the top spot, and the U.S. Apple, which launched its first 5G phone late last year.
Samsung posted a market share of 11.5 percent in the third quarter, a shocking 22.8 percentage points drop from 34.3 percent a year ago, according to Strategy Analytics (SA), a market research company.
While Samsung suffered a huge drop in market share, Xiaomi claimed first place. Xiaomi's share in the third quarter of 2021 was 41.8 percent, up 37.5 percentage points from 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020. The Chinese smartphone maker also topped the European smartphone market with a 25.3 percent share in the second quarter.
Apple, which launched its first 5G phone, the iPhone 12, in October 2020, came in second with a 26 percent market share. China's Realmi (7.2 percent) and One Plus (2.5 percent) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Samsung Electronics may face more uphill battles in the 5G phone markets of other regions. According to SA, Samsung ranked fourth with a 16.5 percent share in the 5G smartphone market excluding Apple. When Apple is included, it virtually stood fifth.
In addition, Samsung Electronics came in fourth after Vivo (30 percent), Oppo (23 percent), and Xiaomi (16 percent) with an 8 percent share in the second quarter in the global budget 5G phone market (US$200 to US$399), which is expanding rapidly, Counterpoint Research said.