Apple Maintains 5G Market Lead in Q1 2021 Despite Vivo and Samsung Gains

Apple shipped an estimated 40.4 million iPhone 12 devices during the first quarter of 2021, according to new data shared by Strategy Analytics. The figure suggests Apple has maintained its grip on the global 5G smartphone market, despite indicating a 23% dip compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, when Apple shipped 52.2 million units.

iPhone 12 Most Popular Feature
Apple enjoyed booming sales in the 5G market in the three months following the launch of in first 5G-equipped ‌iPhone‌ models, but since then its rivals have upped their game in an increasingly competitive premium smartphone market by releasing new 5G models.

Chinese vendor Oppo took second place in the same quarter, shipping 21.5 million units for a 15.8% market share, up 55% from the fourth quarter of last year. Fellow Sino-mobile maker Vivo managed to ship 19.4 million units, a 62% gain on the last quarter.

Samsung took fourth place with 17 million 5G handsets shipped, earning it just 12.5% of the market but a sizeable 79% growth on Q4 2020. Xiaomi shipped 16.6 million units during the quarter, taking 12.2% of the market, up 41% quarter-over-quarter.

q1 2021 5g market strategy analytics

"Samsung is performing well with new 5G models, such as Galaxy S21 5G, S21 ultra 5G and S21+ 5G, in South Korea, North America, and parts of Europe," said Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, associate director at Strategy Analytics. "Meanwhile, Apple dipped 23% QoQ, following a blowout Q4 2020 where the new 5G iPhone was wildly popular as a gift during the holiday season.

"We forecast global 5G smartphone shipments to reach a record 624 million units for the full-year 2021, soaring from 269 million in full-year 2020."

All of the iPhones in Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup support 5G, but not all 5G networks are equal. There's the super fast mmWave (millimeter wave) 5G and the slower but more widespread sub-6GHz 5G.

Apple currently only sells the mmWave ‌iPhone‌ 12 in the United States, which allocates to only 30-35% of overall ‌‌iPhone‌ 12‌ shipments. However, support for sub-6Ghz 5G networks appears to have been enough to fuel the demand for ‌iPhone‌ 12 models more globally.

Apple is planning to increase the availability of 5G mmWave capable ‌iPhone‌ models to more countries around the world with the release of the iPhone 13 later this year, offering even more customers access to the faster and newer technology where the infrastructure is increasingly becoming more widely available, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Tags: 5G, mmWave
Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

dabi Avatar
32 months ago
Tfw I still haven't used the 5G connectivity on my 12 Pro Max even once. :D But considering my carrier's 4G goes beyond 100 mb/s I don't think I'm missing out on that much.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steve09090 Avatar
32 months ago
Remember when people said Apple were taking too long to add 5G and that Android opposition are going to be way ahead… well….
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
velocityg4 Avatar
32 months ago

All of the iPhones in Apple's iPhone 12 lineup support 5G, but not all 5G networks are equal. There's the super fast mmWave (millimeter wave) 5G and the slower but more widespread sub-6GHz 5G.

Apple currently only sells the mmWave iPhone 12 in the United States, which allocates to only 30-35% of overall ‌iPhone 12‌ shipments. However, support for sub-6Ghz 5G networks appears to have been enough to fuel the demand for iPhone 12 models more globally.

I really don't think this matters to most buyers. They don't know what any of this means. All they know is 5G is a higher number than 4G. Thus it must be better and faster.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ToadyBlegh Avatar
32 months ago
I just got my second COVID vax and the 5g is AMAZING. Really makes everything better.

Seriously, though, we have almost full rollout of fast 5g in my area and I haven't noticed any different. I don't really use my phone for complex processing in the cloud or whatever and haven't noticed any massive improvement, even in watching videos or playing on-line games. Fast internet makes sense for a personal computer but, seriously, how many people need a 10 gig connection speed on their phone? Most of the issues it technically solves for, like network slicing and latency, were networks issues that could have been solved at a network level. Sadly, many of those network challenges will remain because most network providers are terrible and take you for granted.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IceStormNG Avatar
32 months ago
There's barely any 5G here. Most is 5G with LTE anchor which, ahah, the iPhone doesn't support.

But anyway. LTE is fast enough for me (about 200MB/s). 5G is nice on paper... but it doesn't add a lot of benefit. Especially considering the battery impact it has.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Absolute Trainwreck Avatar
32 months ago
We’ve all switched back to LTE. We found that when 5G works it works quite well but for whatever reason it seemed like 25% of the time even with full bars we wouldn’t be able to load data.

I’m sure it’s just a matter of time just like it was with LTE but 5G just doesn’t matter (yet).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
iOS 16 4 Web Push

Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users

Wednesday December 6, 2023 5:06 am PST by
Unidentified governments are surveilling smartphone users by tracking push notifications that move through Google's and Apple's servers, a US senator warned on Wednesday (via Reuters). In a letter to the Department of Justice, Senator Ron Wyden said foreign officials were demanding the data from the tech giants to track smartphones. The traffic flowing from apps that send push notifications...
airpods pro 2 pink

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware update for both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPods Pro 2. The new firmware is version 6B34, up from the 6B32 firmware introduced in November. Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware beyond "bug fixes and other improvements," so it is unclear what's new in the update, but prior software releases ...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

'All-Screen' iPhone Under-Display Camera Enters Development

Wednesday December 6, 2023 2:03 am PST by
Apple's Korean suppliers have begun developing smartphone under-display cameras (UDC), paving the way for the first iPhone with a true "all-screen" appearance. According to The Elec, LG Innotek has entered the preliminary development of the UDC, which sits under the display and does not result in a visible hole in the panel when the camera is not in use. A UDC differs from a typical front ...
magsafe blue 2

iOS 17.2 Brings Qi2 Support to iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 Models

Tuesday December 5, 2023 11:04 am PST by
The iOS 17.2 update that Apple is set to release to the public in the near future will bring support for the next-generation Qi2 wireless charging standard to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Qi2 was mentioned in the release notes for the RC version of the update that came out today. With the addition of support for the new standard, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models will work with Qi2...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 May Reuse Existing iPhone 14 Battery

Wednesday December 6, 2023 1:17 pm PST by
Recently, MacRumors has received details on the battery currently being tested on the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, and the information corroborates previous findings in relation to the device. The iPhone SE 4, known by its device identifier D59, is expected to use the exact same battery found in the base model iPhone 14. Partially assembled prototypes of the next iPhone SE have been ...
airpods pro bulbs

Black Friday Prices Return for AirPods Pro 2 With USB-C, iPad, and More

Tuesday December 5, 2023 7:30 am PST by
Today we're tracking a collection of deals that are matching - or nearly matching - the same all-time low discounts we saw during Black Friday. This includes the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, 9th generation iPad, and M1 MacBook Air. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the ...
instagram messenger

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month

Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....