At Christmas, Apple and Samsung once again shared the European smartphone market. In ambush, Xiaomi is taking advantage of Huawei’s setbacks to assert itself on the Old Continent.
The years follow one another and look alike for the two behemoths of the smartphone. For more than a decade, Samsung and Apple have dominated the sector and if some Chinese competitors manage to undermine this hegemony, it is clear that they are still struggling to go the distance. The firm Counterpoint has published its smartphone sales estimates for the fourth quarter of 2021 in Europe. He takes this opportunity to take stock of a particular year.
The past year has been marked by a struggle ” intense “ three for the leader’s crown. Despite strong competition, Samsung remained the leader in 2021 with 32% sales share and annual growth of 6%. The South Korean giant took advantage of the launch of its Galaxy S21 series at the start of the year to widen the gap on its rivals before knowing “significant supply problems” in the middle of the year. The arrival of the folding models, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, allowed Samsung to find colors.
Apple ends the year on top, Xiaomi still a bit short
Just behind, Apple rode the wave of the launch of its first 5G iPhone. The apple brand had a successful start to 2021 before slipping until September. Cupertino’s smooth schedule allowed it to end the year on a high note with the launch of the iPhone 13. The series helped Apple take the market lead in November 2021 and widen the gap to have a December record in Europe (about a third of sales share for iPhones). Over the year as a whole, Apple grew by 25% compared to 2021 and captured 26% of the sales share.
In addition to these two historical players, Xiaomi has long made life difficult for the competition. Xiaomi managed to occupy the leading position in the summer (June 2021), taking advantage of Samsung’s setbacks by achieving good performances in Russia, Spain and Italy. Hard hit by the shortage of components, Xiaomi experienced significant difficulties in the second half. The Counterpoint firm notes, however, that the Chinese brand has had a successful year by recording record sales in Europe. Its progression is 50% compared to 2020 and Xiaomi is still asserting itself a little more as the third major player in Europe (14% of the share of sales).
To continue to progress and stand up to Samsung and Apple, the Chinese giant will have to continue to progress on the high end. Behind, the Chinese brands Realme (+162%) and Vivo (+207%) have made strong progress and have ambition. Thanks to its merger with OnePlus, the Oppo group stands out by capturing 8% of sales and posting an annual increase of 94%. These manufacturers also benefited from the decline of Huawei, whose sales fell by almost 90% in Europe in 2021.
As a whole, however, the European smartphone market experienced a new “your sawtooth year”. While 2020 had been marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, the year 2021 confirmed that the Old Continent had not finished with the health crisis. Europe also had to deal with the global shortage of components from the middle of the year, curbing the ambitions of the main players in the sector. While the European market saw 8% growth in 2021, Counterpoint insists that’s only a “partial recovery”.
Reasons for hope for 2022
In 2022, the battle promises to be tough with the arrival of the Galaxy S22 from Samsung or a new iPhone SE. The latter should boost Apple’s sales in the middle of the year, before the arrival of the high-end models. We must not forget either HMD (Nokia), Motorola or Honor who want to return to the front of the stage this year.
