Gartner: Samsung lost market share in smartphone market in 2020

Samsung has lost significant market share in the smartphone market in 2020, according to analyst firm Gartner. The market leader shipped almost 15 percent fewer phones, despite closest competitor Huawei also losing a lot of ground.

Samsung had to deal with strong competition from Chinese manufacturers, Gartner reports. Xiaomi and OPPO are trying to gain more ground worldwide and as a result Samsung’s deliveries are falling, the analyst firm estimates. Xiaomi delivered 15.7 percent more smartphones. OPPO lost some ground as a brand, but many customers may end up with sister brands such as Realme and Vivo. Gartner charges it separately.

Huawei faced the US government’s trade ban throughout the year, making it difficult to get components and impossible to include Google services on new models. Huawei delivered a quarter of phones less. Huawei has a strong position in its home country of China, where Google services are not allowed on phones anyway. Apple delivered 3.3 percent more phones than in 2019.

In total, smartphone makers delivered 1.35 billion devices in 2020, the analyst firm has calculated. That is 12.5 percent less than in 2019. The smartphone market has been in a decline for some time, but it improved towards the end of the year, according to Gartner. In recent months, the decline was only 5.4 percent.