Apple Comes Out on Top While Huawei Slumps in Smartphone Market Shake-Up
January 28 2021 - 6:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Dan Strumpf
Apple Inc. reasserted itself as the world's No. 1 seller of
smartphones in the fourth quarter thanks to record sales of its
latest iPhone, while Huawei Technologies Co.'s device shipments
collapsed under the weight of U.S. restrictions.
The data, released by mobile-phone-industry tracker
International Data Corp. and others, showed a dramatic divergence
in the smartphone market during the final months of 2020.
Apple's smartphone shipments shot up by 22% in the fourth
quarter, with 90.1 million devices shipped--the highest quarterly
number of shipments for any vendor on record, according to IDC. The
surge during Apple's most profitable quarter was fueled by the
success of the company's iPhone 12 series and lifted Apple to the
No. 1 spot in the quarter, with 23% of the total market, according
to IDC.
The company often sees a bump in quarterly smartphone sales
during the final quarter on the heels of its latest iPhone
launch.
"It's traditionally a very strong quarter for Apple, but Apple
is starting to consolidate their lead," said Nicole Peng, an
analyst at research firm Canalys, which also placed Apple at No. 1
during the quarter. "It feels like it's back to its peak time from
several years ago."
In a similar shift, smartphone shipments by China's Huawei
plunged by 42%, according to IDC, an acceleration from its
third-quarter fall of 22%. As recently as the second quarter last
year, the Chinese technology giant had climbed to become the No. 1
vendor. But under pressure from U.S. limits on supplies, it is now
ranked No. 5.
Restrictions on Huawei's ability to buy chips and use American
software on its devices has curbed supply of its phones and
prompted consumers to ditch the brand, reversing years of steady
growth, analysts said. In November, the company disclosed the sale
of its budget handset brand Honor and hasn't announced plans for
any flagship device launches this year.
Despite Huawei's slump, the overall smartphone market grew 4.3%
in the fourth quarter, suggesting resilience in the market for
handsets following an extended slump. Mobile-phone vendors are
hopeful that the rollout of next-generation 5G networks will
stimulate greater demand in 2021.
Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 28, 2021 05:51 ET (10:51 GMT)
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