Counterpoint research has revealed significant indicators for the smartphone market in the first quarter of 2021.

Samsung led the way in terms of smartphone shipments in the third quarter, accounting for 22% of all shipments.

Apple came in second, with 17% of the market share. Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Huawei have 14, 11, 10 percent, and 4 percent, respectively, of the market share.

The figures reflect some fascinating trends.

The first is that Samsung has subsequently figured out how to run a smartphone business. This comes after it restructured the A series portfolio, which has since proven to be a crucial revenue generator for the South Korean IT firm. Even in markets like Kenya, some of its devices, such as the A32, A52, and A72, are highly popular.This could be because they’re reasonably priced, offer lifestyle features like water resistance (A52 and A72), and have a generally appealing camera layout.

The second observation is that Huawei is still in the field, despite two years of negative business due to its dispute with the United States, which resulted in its inclusion on the entity list. Huawei was formerly the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer in terms of shipments.It has now been demoted to position 6, which is unfortunate because it had invested a lot of time and money into developing some of the most technologically advanced handhelds for its millions of loyal customers.

Third, and related to the previous point, Huawei is no longer China’s leading smartphone manufacturer. In recent years, the Asian and world’s most populated country has seen remarkable growth in smartphone makers.Based on the data above, Xiaomi clearly tops the group – which makes sense given that the business has been releasing some of the hottest phones for top markets including its home turf and India through its sub-brands. It has a strong presence in Kenya, and the recently announced Redmi Note 10 series is a must-have.

BBK Electronics has also proven that it can sell some of the world’s best smartphones; just look at what it’s done with OPPO and vivo, not to mention realme and, in Western countries, OnePlus.

Nonetheless, here are some crucial figures from the report.

• In the period under review, global smartphone shipments increased by 20% YoY but fell 10% QoQ to 354.94 million devices.
• Samsung has reclaimed the number one slot, displacing Apple from the previous quarter.
• Samsung was the top shipper in the MEA region, accounting for 26% of all shipments. TECNO, Xiaomi, itel, and OPPO came in second, third, and fourth, with 11, 10, 9, and 6% of the market share, respectively.

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