Global Market Share Inches up
Market research firm TrendForce said on Dec. 1 that Samsung Electronics topped the global smartphone market in the third quarter of this year with a 21.2 percent share. The Korean smartphone giant was followed by Apple (15.9 percent), Oppo (15.7 percent), Xiaomi (13.7 percent), and Vivo (10.5 percent).
Another market research firm, Counterpoint Research found that Samsung Electronics’ market share rose 2 percentage points from the previous quarter to 20 percent. On the other hand, Apple, ranked second, fell 1 percentage point to 14 percent during the same period, followed by Xiaomi (13 percent), Vivo (10 percent), Oppo (10 percent), and Realmi (5 percent).
Samsung Electronics also topped another survey by market research firm Canalys with a 23 percent share. Apple came in second with 15 percent, followed by Xiaomi (14 percent), Vivo (10 percent), and Oppo (10 percent).
Samsung Electronics said its sales growth was driven by the Galaxy Z Flip 3, the Galaxy Fold 3 and Galaxy A series which gained huge popularity in North America and Europe. Samsung’s market share in the North American smartphone market in the third quarter was 34 percent, up 8 percentage points from the previous quarter. The market share gap with Apple, the undisputed No. 1 player in the North American market, halved to 14 percentage points in the third quarter from 27 percent points in the previous quarter. In the European market, Samsung came in first with 34 percent, 14 percentage points higher than Apple’s 20 percent.
In Korea, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Fold 3 garnered much attention as they surpassed one million units in sales in only a month since their launches. They crossed one million units in the third-fastest pace ever after the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy S8. Samsung's smartphone shipments in the third quarter totaled 69.3 million units, up 20 percent from the previous quarter.
Apple recorded shipments of 48 million units, up about 15 percent from a year earlier, thanks to continued demand for the iPhone 12 series and the launch of the iPhone 13 series. In particular, Apple finished first in October with a monthly market share of 22 percent as the iPhone 13 series gained huge popularity in the Chinese market. This was the first time since October 2015.