14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has managed to regain the second spot in the global smartphone race in the third quarter of the year, though, on the other hand, the struggle with the current inventory of chips continues to be a problem for every single company out there.
New data provided by Canalys reveals that the worldwide sales of new phones dropped by no less than 6 percent in the third quarter, especially as a result of the global chip shortage.
“The chipset famine has truly arrived,” said Canalys Principal Analyst, Ben Stanton.
“The smartphone industry is striving to maximize production of devices as best it can. On the supply side, chipset manufacturers are increasing prices to disincentivize over-ordering, in an attempt to close the gap between demand and supply. But despite this, shortages will not ease until well into 2022. As a result of this, as well as high costs of global freight, smartphone brands have reluctantly pushed up device retail pricing.”
Samsung still the number one company
Samsung continues to be the number one phone maker in the world with a market share of 23 percent in the third quarter of 2021, unchanged from the same period a year ago.
Apple, however, has managed to increase its market share and jump from 12 percent to 15 percent, enough to reclaim the second spot in the charts, just ahead of Xiaomi with 14 percent.
Fourth in the updated rankings is none other than Vivo, whose market share increased from 9 percent to 10 percent, with a similar performance also recorded by fellow competitor OPPO.
It remains to be seen how phone makers would be able to cope with the chip crisis, especially as the holiday season is almost upon us and this is very often the time of year when sales are skyrocketing for every single brand in the majority of large markets, including China and the United States.