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Apple, with its Phone 12, rejoices in the results achieved in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2021 which represented a third of revenue in this specific market. The good performance of Apple, to which must be added those of Samsung and Xiaomi, has led the smartphone market to a new sales record: $113 billion globally.
The data comes from technology consultancy Counterpoint. According to the company, for every 100 smartphones sold worldwide between January and March, 42 came from Apple.
Smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2021 also dragged by Samsung and Xiaomi
The preference of American consumers for the iPhone 12 Pro Max brought the phone to the top of the best-selling smartphone category. Immediately below, in second and third place, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The Galaxy S21 Ultra, Samsung’s cutting-edge model, stood out in both the European and American markets, but not enough to undermine the iPhone 12.
Xiaomi has achieved a record share of the global smartphone market with 48.5 million units sold in the first three months of the year. The record was driven by sales in China, India, Russia and Spain. The strong presence of the brand in markets such as Latin America and Europe fills the space left by the compatriot Huawei, and consolidates Xiaomi as a leading 5G provider.
In the list of best-selling smartphones of the quarter, only iPhone 11 and iPhone SE don’t support 5G connection, This indicates how new smartphone buyersand evaluate this now essential technical feature for their new device.
The market suffers from chip shortages
In 2020, the technology market suffered from a shortage of materials such as chips, mainly because one of the big suppliers in the chain, China, was the first to feel the impacts caused by COVID-19. This forced the smartphone giants to shift the launch of their main products. As a result, the global shipment of smartphones grew 20% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year.
Samsung warned in its quarterly financial statements, released in April, about the shortage of semiconductors. In 2020, Apple delayed the launch of the iPhone 12 due to product unavailability and, this year, postponed production of two of its main products, the Macbook and the iPad, for the same reason. According to experts, the shortage of chips could last until 2022 and affect the price of mobile phones, video games and other electronic devices.
