Apple’s iPhone maintained the No.1 position among the top five smartphone vendors

Worldwide smartphone sales grew 6% in 2021, according to Gartner, Inc. Apple maintained the No.1 position among the top five smartphone vendors, according to the research group. 

The strong demand for iPhones was driven by 5G upgrades. Apple sold approximately 83 million iPhones in quarter four of 2021. That’s 3.8% year-over-year growth.

Apple has 21.9% of the global smartphone market, according to Gartner. Other vendors in the top five — and their market share — are Samsung (18.2%), Xiaomi (11.8%), OPPO (8.6%), and Vivo (7.7%).

Gartner says smartphone sales rebounded in the first half of 2021, following a 12.5% decline in 2020. Previous year’s lower smartphone sales because of COVID-19 and the bounce back to growth in first half of 2021 helped propel the market to growth, according to the research group. However, component shortages and supply chain issues disrupted smartphone sales in the second half of 2021.