Samsung and Apple gain share in smartphone market at the expense of Chinese brands

Samsung and Apple gained share in the smartphone market in the past quarter, at the expense of Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo. That reports analyst firm Canalys. They owe that to the latest releases.

For Samsung, it’s about its new lineup for 2022 that includes the Galaxy S22 and new mid-range models, while Apple is benefiting from the popularity of its iPhone 13 models, says Canalys. Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo could not follow, presumably due to the later release of models worldwide. The brands did release many appealing phones in their home country of China, but the worldwide release of phones often followed much later for those brands.

The entire market contracted by 11 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the analyst firm, this is due to the global chip shortage, which seems to drive prices up. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also fueled economic uncertainty among consumers, as has the continuation of the corona pandemic.

Canalys is one of the analyst firms that track deliveries of smartphones. Strategy Analytics, IDC and Gartner also do this. The analyst firms rely on data from retailers, providers and manufacturers, among others. Many manufacturers have not published exact figures on smartphone deliveries for years, so analysts’ estimates are the only concrete figures for the smartphone market.