The Briefing

• In 2020, Samsung remained the top smartphone vendor based on units sold
• Of the top five brands, Apple and Xiaomi were the only ones that saw sales increase in 2020
• China is expected to see the most sales in 2021, but the highest growth areas are projected to be in Western Europe, Latin America, and in more mature markets in the Asia-Pacific

Top Smartphone Brands, By Global Sales

Many industries took a hit last year, and the smartphone market was no exception—in 2020, smartphone sales worldwide dropped by 12%.

Yet, despite an overall decrease, two of the top five global brands—Apple and Xiaomi—experienced an uptick in sales from the year prior.

Here’s a look at the top smartphone brands in 2020, by units sold:

Samsung is King, For Now At Least

Samsung remains the top smartphone manufacturer—at least for now—capturing almost 19% of the global market in 2020. That’s about the same portion of market share it held back in 2019.

Yet, while Samsung’s market share remains relatively intact, sales did drop by almost 15% in 2020. That’s a slightly bigger dip than the overall market, which experienced a 12.5% decline in sales last year.

Meanwhile, Apple crawled up the ranks in 2020, surpassing Huawei and claiming the number two spot on the list. The U.S. company launched the iPhone 12 in October 2020, which boosted Q4 2020 unit sales by almost 15% compared to Q4 2019.

Forecast for 2021

The future looks promising for global smartphone sales, and this year is no exception. In fact, Gartner expects 11.4% growth in comparison to last year.

According to Gartner, growth is on the horizon for two main reasons—delayed device replacement, which was reflected in last year’s sales slump, and increased availability of new, more affordable products.