Apple so far has been able to ship 10.6 percent fewer iPhones year-on-year in the third quarter of this year, meaning that it has been overtaken by Xiaomi for the first time ever, according to new data shared by IDC.
The report details how Apple is now ranked as the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer based on market share. This is the first time ever that Apple has ranked fourth, with Xiaomi, Huawei, and Samsung all-surpassing Apple’s 11.8 percent share.
In total, Apple is believed to have shipped 41.2 million devices in the third quarter of this year, which is five million less than the same in 2019.
The drop which didn’t really come as a surprise was expected on the back of the delay in launching the iPhone 12 lineup, which usually happens in the third quarter. Irrespective of the belated arrival of the iPhone 12, the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE contributed to the majority of Apple’s volume and performed “amazingly well”.
Moving forward, IDC expects Apple to grow in coming quarters due to strong early demand for the iPhone 12 and solid trade-in offers from major carriers, most especially within the United States.
Samsung reclaimed the top spot with a market share of 22.7 percent, shipping over 80 million smartphones. Huawei followed with a 14.7 percent share, and this was a significant reduction of 40 percent year-on-year. Vivo also returned to the top five chart with a market share of 8.9 percent.
Xiaomi overtook Apple for the first time ever with a market share of 13.1 percent, achieving a whopping 42 percent growth. The rise is supposedly due to strong gains in India, China, and some parts of Africa.