Europe’s smartphone market appears to have largely recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, although sales are now being impacted by the ongoing chip shortage, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple sales were boosted by the launch of the iPhone 13 towards the end of the quarter.
Third quarter 2021 smartphone ales were only marginally down (-1%) compared to the same period last year, but were 4% down versus the second quarter of 2021, according to Counterpoint Research.
“Xiaomi, Apple and OPPO have gained significant share over the last year. Xiaomi continued to grow well across most European markets while OPPO gained well in Western Europe, helped along by its recent merger with OnePlus,” says Counterpoint Research Associate Director Jan Stryjak. “Apple, meanwhile, was boosted by the launch of the iPhone 13 towards the end of the quarter. The iPhone 12 was launched in early quarter four of 2020. Samsung retained its top spot having largely recovered from its supply woes earlier on in the year. But it was still down both annually and sequentially. Having said that, it could have been worse had it not been for the popularity of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, particularly in Western Europe.”
The iPhone 13 launch was a big success for Apple. Despite going on sale towards the end of September, the iPhone 13 appeared to be more popular than last year’s iPhone 12. Streak says if it can keep up with demand (which seems to be a challenge in some markets), Apple may well be in for a record-breaking fourth quarter in Europe.
