Smartphone market share worldwide by vendor 2009-2022

Samsung held the largest slice of the global smartphone market by shipments during the first quarter of 2022, after falling to second in the fourth quarter of 2021, when Apple was the leading smartphone vendor. Xiaomi has taken a tight grip on the third position, accounting for a market share of 12.7 in the first quarter of 2022.

Huawei falls outside the leading five vendors

Samsung, known for consumer products such as mobile devices and home entertainment systems, is consistently among the global leading smartphone vendors. While Apple and Samsung are typically the two major companies challenging for the top spot, Huawei had provided a strong challenge in recent years. Huawei's market share reached 20 percent in the second quarter of 2020, however, strong performances from rivals and the effects of the U.S. trade ban have since seen Huawei fall outside the list of top five vendors by shipments.

Samsung and Apple smartphone sales

Samsung’s main line of smartphone products is the Galaxy series, the first of which was released in April 2009. Samsung suffered a steep drop-off in shipments as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The company shipped 75.5 million units in the second quarter of 2019, a figure that fell to 54.2 million units by the second quarter of 2020. However, Samsung appears to be recovering from reduced smartphone shipments during 2020 and 2021, as they shipped nearly 74 million units globally in the first quarter of 2022.

Apple is a major manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, with the company shipping more than 57 million iPhones worldwide in the first quarter of 2022. Apple’s sales tend to be very cyclical, peaking in the fourth quarter each year, much like in the fourth quarter of 2021, when they took the first spot in terms of units shipped globally with around 84 million units.