Samsung Leads Smartphone Shipments This Year... Apple Dominates Q4

Shipment Volume This Year: Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei in Order... Apple Advances
Apple Takes 1st Place in Q4... Huawei Falls to 6th Place

On the 9th, citizens are touring the Samsung Electronics booth at the '2020 Korea Electronics Show (KES)' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Industry Promotion Association (KFA), this event continues until the 12th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Samsung Electronics maintained its position as the number one smartphone shipper this year. Amid Huawei's slump, Apple rose to second place thanks to the launch of the 'iPhone 12'.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics on the 10th, Samsung Electronics' projected smartphone shipments for this year are estimated at 254.9 million units. Apple, which was third last year with 202 million units, is expected to move up to second place. Huawei (187.9 million units) ranks third, followed by Xiaomi (154.3 million units) in fourth place.

Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Samsung Electronics' shipments decreased by 40.2 million units compared to 2019. The poor performance of the Galaxy S20 in the first half had a significant effect. Huawei's shipments dropped by 52.6 million units, compounded by the US government's chipset export restrictions. On the other hand, Apple increased shipments by 5.3 million units, supported by the second-generation iPhone SE in the first half and the iPhone 12 series in the second half. Xiaomi's shipments rose by as much as 29.5 million units compared to last year.

On the 30th, the day Apple officially launched its first 5G smartphone, the iPhone 12 series, customers were seen examining the products at the Apple Store on Garosugil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In the fourth quarter smartphone market, Apple showed strong performance. Apple is expected to ship 78.9 million units, boosted by the October launch of the iPhone 12 series, with Samsung Electronics in second place at 62 million units. Xiaomi, ranked third with 51.6 million units, is also aggressively pursuing. Meanwhile, Huawei (31.7 million units) fell to sixth place, behind Oppo and Vivo.

Next year, Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi are expected to occupy the top three spots in smartphone shipments. Competition to fill Huawei's void is intensifying. Samsung Electronics' shipments next year are expected to increase by about 20 million units to 275.1 million units. Apple is projected to ship 240.7 million units, and Xiaomi is expected to raise shipments to 198.1 million units.

With US government sanctions and the sale of the mid-to-low-end brand 'Honor' combined, Huawei's slump is expected to deepen next year. Shipments are estimated at about 91.4 million units, half of this year's volume, and its ranking is expected to fall from third to sixth place.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.