Global Smartphone Shipments Grew 13.2% in Q2 2021: Who's on Top?

An International Data Corporation (IDC) report shows that global smartphone shipments reached 313.2 million units in Q2 2021. This is a 13.2% increase compared to the same period the previous year, which saw 276.6 million units shipped (year-on-year/YoY).

Samsung maintained its leading position with 59 million smartphone shipments. This represents a 9.3% YoY increase from 54 million units shipped in the same period last year.

Xiaomi followed in second place with 53.1 million smartphone shipments. Its growth surged significantly by 86.6% compared to April-June 2020, when only 28.5 million units were shipped (YoY).

Meanwhile, Apple shipped 44.2 million smartphones worldwide, with a growth of 17.8% (YoY). OPPO and Vivo followed, shipping 32.8 million and 31.6 million units respectively. The growth in shipments for these two brands was recorded at 37% (YoY) and 33.7% (YoY) respectively.

According to IDC, the smartphone market was fortunate to not experience severe supply chain constraints like those seen in the PC, display, and automotive industries. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, consumers worldwide continue to demonstrate a need for mobile devices.

The report also indicates that the emergence of 5G smartphones is not yet a pressing concern for consumers. IDC predicts that greater increases in smartphone shipments from Chinese vendors could eventually cut into Samsung and Apple's dominance.