Global Smartphone Market Shows Signs of Recovery in Q3

The global smartphone market declined 4% year-on-year but grew 32% compared with the previous quarter to reach 366 million units in 3Q20, according to Counterpoint Research. This recovery was driven by all key markets, returning slowly to normal due to eased lockdown conditions. The smartphone market has shown resilience to the ill effects of COVID-19 both from the supply and demand side.

“Eased lockdown conditions in all key markets made way for exports and imports, thus streamlining the supply chain again. Also, the pent-up demand due to lockdowns helped the smartphone market take a recovery trajectory. The supply issues are getting resolved as the manufacturing units in China and Vietnam have started operating at their normal levels, while in India, they are operating at 80% of the pre-COVID levels. In markets like the US and Europe, a modest ‘back to school’ bump in the quarter helped the market to recover,“ said Associate Director at Counterpoint Research Tarun Pathak.

Samsung regained the top spot, shipping 79.8 million units to register 47% QoQ and 2% YoY growth. Huawei was the runner-up in the global market but showed a declining trend as its share dropped from 20% in Q2 2020 to 14% in Q3 2020. Rapid growth of realme continued during the quarter. It grew 132% QoQ in shipments volume, representing the strongest growth momentum among major global OEMs. Xiaomi grew 75% QoQ to grab 13% share for the quarter. This was also the first time when Xiaomi surpassed Apple to capture the third spot.