Apple Comes Out on Top, Huawei Slumps in Smartphone Market Shake-Up

Apple’s smartphone shipments shot up by 22% in the fourth quarter, with 90.1 million devices shipped—the highest quarterly number of shipments for any vendor on record, according to IDC. The surge during Apple’s most profitable quarter was fueled by the success of the company’s iPhone 12 series and lifted Apple to the No. 1 spot in the quarter, with 23% of the total market, according to IDC.

The company often sees a bump in quarterly smartphone sales during the final quarter on the heels of its latest iPhone launch.

“It’s traditionally a very strong quarter for Apple, but Apple is starting to consolidate their lead,” said Nicole Peng, an analyst at research firm Canalys, which also placed Apple at No. 1 during the quarter. “It feels like it’s back to its peak time from several years ago.”

In a similar shift, smartphone shipments by China’s Huawei plunged by 42%, according to IDC, an acceleration from its third-quarter fall of 22%. As recently as the second quarter last year, the Chinese technology giant had climbed to become the No. 1 vendor. But under pressure from U.S. limits on supplies, it is now ranked No. 5.

Restrictions on Huawei’s ability to buy chips and use American software on its devices has curbed supply of its phones and prompted consumers to ditch the brand, reversing years of steady growth, analysts said. In November, the company disclosed the sale of its budget handset brand Honor and hasn’t announced plans for any flagship device launches this year.

Despite Huawei’s slump, the overall smartphone market grew 4.3% in the fourth quarter, suggesting resilience in the market for handsets following an extended slump. Mobile-phone vendors are hopeful that the rollout of next-generation 5G networks will stimulate greater demand in 2021.

Write to Dan Strumpf at [email protected]