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Apple’s share of the global smartphone market contracted in the third quarter of 2020 as part of a broader slowdown blamed on coronavirus concerns, dropping the iPhone maker to fourth place.
Apple shipped 40.6 million iPhones in the quarter ending September to capture an 11.1% market share, according to new estimates from research firm Gartner. Year-over-year growth fell 0.6%, pushing the company from third to fourth place.
Samsung was one of two companies to report third-quarter growth with sales exceeding 80.8 million units, up 2.2% from the same period last year. The performance was good enough to take 22% of the market and almost double Apple’s iPhone shipments.
Despite a massive 21.3% year-on-year contraction, Huawei held on to second place with 51.8 million smartphone sales and a 14.1% market share.
Xiaomi was the biggest driver of the quarter, surging 34.9% to topple Apple for the first time. The Chinese upstart sold 44.4 million handsets to take a 12.1% market share.
Oppo rounded out the top five with 29.9 million units sold and an 8.2% market share, down 2.3% from the previous year.
Overall, global smartphone sales are down 5.7% year-over-year as consumer spending stagnates due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The situation is improving, however, as economies slowly come back to life after government-imposed lockdowns.
“Consumers are limiting their discretionary spending even as some foreclosure conditions have started to improve,” said Anshul Gupta, senior director of research at Gartner. “Global smartphone sales grew moderately from the second quarter of 2020 to the third quarter. This was due to pent-up demand from previous quarters.”
It should be noted that market research companies like IDC have a questionable track record of estimating sales of Apple units. Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook, have in the past rebutted quarterly forecasts, suggesting they are largely inaccurate.
Apple was particularly hard hit in the third quarter. The tech giant typically launches new iPhone models at the end of September, a refresh cycle that is boosting sales numbers entering the lucrative holiday quarter. This year, however, development and production of the iPhone 12 series devices have been delayed, with the virus forcing Chinese partner suppliers to slow down or suspend operations.
The iPhone maker finally launched its line of current generation handsets in mid-October.
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