Apple has just launched the iPhone 13 series, but the company owes its booming success in the premium smartphone market to its discontinued model line. According to new data, the company has claimed an even larger share in the premium smartphones segment this year at the expense of its Android competitors.
- Apple saw tremendous growth in the smartphone segment over $ 400 between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, according to a new report.
- The company also reportedly claimed nearly 75% of sales in the flagship price band of over $ 800.
- Android’s biggest competitors, Samsung and Huawei, struggled to keep up. However, Xiaomi and Oppo recorded noticeable gains.
Apple’s premium global market
Apple’s premium global market share grew from 48% in Q2 2020 to 57% in Q2 2021, largely due to the success of the iPhone 12 series, according to a new report from Counterpoint. In particular, Counterpoint defines the premium market segment as devices with a retail price of over $ 400, including the lion’s share of Apple devices. However, the performance in the ultra-premium segment ($ 800 or more) is also particularly noteworthy.
Across the premium smartphone market as a whole, that particular price range accounted for 36% of premium smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2021 – a 182% year-over-year growth. Apple accounted for nearly three-quarters of sales in this space in the second quarter of 2021, up from 54% last year. This number was also supported by the sales performance of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, according to Counterpoint.
How have Apple’s Android competitors fared?
Android OEMs struggled to keep up with Apple in the premium segment.
Samsung held onto 22% of the premium market in the second quarter of 2020, but that share dropped to 17% in the second quarter of 2021. Counterpoint attributes this decline to supply bottlenecks. Nevertheless, Samsung still recorded a volume increase of 13% in the premium category in this period.
Despite the ongoing problems in western markets, Huawei remains the third largest smartphone provider in the world in the premium category. However, it saw a sharp drop in the share, which went from 17% in the second quarter of 2020 to 6% in the 2nd premium segment.
Android OEMs
Only two Android OEMs recorded significant market share gains during the reporting period, namely Oppo and Xiaomi. The latter increased its premium share between the 2nd quarter of 2020 and the 2nd quarter of 2021 from 4% to 6% and thus contributed to its success in all price ranges in the 2nd quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, Oppo saw double-digit equity growth in the premium segment from 2% to 5% over the same period.
Premium segment
Other Android smartphone manufacturers are slowly joining the Big Four in the premium segment. OnePlus ranks as the third-largest OEM in this sector in North America, largely thanks to the OnePlus 9 series. Vivo also holds this position in the APAC region, behind Apple and Samsung. Motorola continues its strength in the Latin American market as the third largest premium device OEM in the region after Apple and Samsung.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2021, Counterpoint suggests that Samsung will regain market share with the cheaper flagships Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. Xiaomi, which was named the world’s largest smartphone maker in June 2021, continues to launch more premium products.
As the pandemic slowly subsides, it is unclear how this will affect consumer buying habits or whether they will stick with the premium devices they currently own. That said, the iPhone 13 series doesn’t seem like that big of an upgrade over the iPhone 12 series. Whether this will affect Apple’s dominance remains to be seen.