Smartphones are among the most relevant and popular consumer oriented products in the market right now, and the growth in sales for this product category has been quite spectacular to witness over the past few years. While budget smartphones have become a mainstay for brands that are trying to penetrate various world markets, premium smartphones which are described as any smartphone costing over $400 have been growing at an even healthier rate with all things having been considered and taken into account.
Counterpoint Research just released a brand new edition of its Market Pulse Service, and it revealed that premium smartphone sales grew by 24% year on year in 2021. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this shows how premium smartphone sales growth is increasing far more rapidly than that of the overall smartphone market, which itself grew by a healthy yet decidedly less impressive 7%.
Some of the factors that have led to such immense growth for the premium smartphone market around the world include things like the changing dynamics of supply chains as well as maneuvering by OEMs that are trying to maximize their own profit margins. The downfall of Huawei allowed other OEMs like Apple to capitalize on the gap they left in the Chinese and Western European markets, although Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo have been a key aspect of filling the market demand as well.
However, it should be noted that Apple’s share of the premium smartphone market increased in 2021, growing from 55% in 2020 to 60% last year. That indicates that Apple has been most successful in dominating the market share that Huawei had to give up. Samsung, on the other hand, has seen its share of the global premium smartphone market decrease from 20% to 17% as well. Also, most Chinese OEMs have seen their market shares increase too, with Xiaomi going from 3% to 5%, Oppo doubling its share from 2% to 4% and Vivo increasing its 2% share in 2020 to 3% in 2021.
Read next: Samsung Smartphones Popularity Has Skyrocketed In 2021, Here Is The Reason Why
Counterpoint Research just released a brand new edition of its Market Pulse Service, and it revealed that premium smartphone sales grew by 24% year on year in 2021. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this shows how premium smartphone sales growth is increasing far more rapidly than that of the overall smartphone market, which itself grew by a healthy yet decidedly less impressive 7%.
Some of the factors that have led to such immense growth for the premium smartphone market around the world include things like the changing dynamics of supply chains as well as maneuvering by OEMs that are trying to maximize their own profit margins. The downfall of Huawei allowed other OEMs like Apple to capitalize on the gap they left in the Chinese and Western European markets, although Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo have been a key aspect of filling the market demand as well.
However, it should be noted that Apple’s share of the premium smartphone market increased in 2021, growing from 55% in 2020 to 60% last year. That indicates that Apple has been most successful in dominating the market share that Huawei had to give up. Samsung, on the other hand, has seen its share of the global premium smartphone market decrease from 20% to 17% as well. Also, most Chinese OEMs have seen their market shares increase too, with Xiaomi going from 3% to 5%, Oppo doubling its share from 2% to 4% and Vivo increasing its 2% share in 2020 to 3% in 2021.
