US Smartphone Market Grows 27 Percent in 1H21 Despite Shortages

The US smartphone market saw a 27% increase in sales in the first half of 2021 as carriers continued pushing 5G upgrades and heavily discounted 5G smartphones, according to Counterpoint Research. Both Apple and Samsung devices were the top-sellers in the premium segment with 53% and 17% growth, respectively. OnePlus, Motorola and Nokia HMD saw strong growth in the market by capturing the void left by LG’s exit from the smartphone business.

“So far, 2021 has been a challenging year for OEMs. There was a consolidation of the market with LG and VinSmart’s exit, increased demand from carriers for more affordable 5G smartphones, and manufacturing constraints due to the global component shortage. This created a big opportunity for OEMs looking to expand market share. So far, we have seen OEMs such as OnePlus, Motorola and Nokia HMD successfully capturing this momentum. Supply for many Android OEMs has been tight, especially for the sub-$600 devices. We believe Samsung could have done even better if it had the inventory to satisfy the demand. The A32 5G was a big hit in T-Mobile’s ‘5G for All’ campaign. Because of supply problems or by design, T-Mobile has changed the high-volume 5G switcher device to the OnePlus N200. This device is one of the most affordable 5G devices in the market at the moment. These large volumes are helping OnePlus grow its installed base and become an early winner in filling the void left by LG,“ said Jeff Fieldhack, US Research Director at Counterpoint Research.

“OnePlus became the fastest growing OEM in 1H21 with a growth of 428%. With the introduction of the N100 and N10 5G in January, OnePlus quickly gained market share in Metro by T-Mobile. Besides, it continues to push its premium device presence at T-Mobile with the latest OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro. OnePlus further expanded its presence in Q2 due to LG’s exit from the smartphone market while the N100 has been one of the top selling smartphones within Metro for months,“ added Maurice Klaehne, Senior Research Analyst.

“We are seeing several demand drivers for smartphones. If Verizon’s purchase of Tracfone goes through, millions of subscribers will need to be migrated from T-Mobile and AT&T to Verizon’s network, which needs a large number of affordable devices. In addition, the Verizon CDMA shutoff date is set for December 2022, and this time it is for real. While it may seem like a long way off, it takes a lot of time to migrate millions of subscribers. Lastly, T-Mobile is shutting down Sprint’s 3G CDMA network by January 1, 2022. This means millions of T-Mobile subscribers need to have new devices. DISH will have to also move millions of CDMA subscribers over to its new MVNO partner, AT&T,“ added Fieldhack.