Samsung has dethroned Huawei to become the leader in the global smartphone market, according to a report by Canalys on global smartphone market Q3 2020 . Huawei now occupies the second spot, followed by Xiaomi, which has entered the top three for the first time. But the total global smartphone shipments clocking at 348 million units show that the market has declined by 1% YoY, which grew by 22% in the previous quarter.
According to Canalys, Samsung saw a decline in the second quarter because it relied too heavily on offline sales but has significantly recovered this quarter. The company has registered 80.2 million shipments with a 23% market share, but has only shown an annual growth of 2%.This is in line with the company’s performance in India, as a report by Counterpoint puts Samsung on top of the Indian smartphone market as well. Huawei, on the other hand, has declined by 23% YoY, with 51.7 million shipments this quarter.
Taking advantage of Huawei’s decline in the global market, Xiaomi has propelled itself into the top three for the first time. It has registered 47.1 million shipments over the quarter and shown significant 45% YoY growth in this third quarter. “Xiaomi executed with aggression to seize shipments from Huawei,” said Mo Jia, Analyst at Canalys. “There was symmetry in Q3, as Xiaomi added 14.5 million units and Huawei lost 15.1 million. In Europe, a key battleground, Huawei’s shipments fell 25%, while Xiaomi’s grew 88%.”
The rest of the big brands occupying the top 5 are: Apple, which shipped 43.2 million units and is down by 1% YoY; and Vivo with 31.8 million shipments which grew by 6%. Trailing behind Vivo are Oppo, Realme and Lenovo.
The Q3 2020 results represent the state of the global smartphone market which still continues to recover from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The initial impact which lockdowns and restrictions had on manufacturers and stores can still be seen in the third quarter even though it’s way less severe now, as most of the restrictions have now been eased.
Ben Stanton, Senior Analyst at Canalys, said that the third quarter was a welcome relief. But he added that “rising COVID-19 rates in regions such as Europe will soon force governments to bring back stricter nationwide measures. The second wave will stretch government stimulus budgets, and cause widespread bankruptcies and job losses in affected areas. Unfortunately, the relief of Q3 looks set to be short-lived.”
