IDC: Apple shipped 50.4 million iPhones with ‘incredible’ 20.8% YOY growth Friday, October 29, 2021 8:32 am
In the third quarter of 2021, Apple regained the second position with 50.4 million units shipped for 15.2% market share and an “incredible” 20.8% year-over-year growth, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).
The double-digit growth in the smartphone market in the early quarters of 2021 came to an end in the third quarter of 2021 as worldwide shipments declined 6.7% year over year. According to preliminary data from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 331.2 million units during the quarter. Although a slight decline was expected in the seasonally low third quarter, the actual decline were over twice the forecast of -2.9% growth.
“The supply chain and component shortage issues have finally caught up to the smartphone market, which until now seemed almost immune to this issue despite its adverse impact on many other adjacent industries,” said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, in a statement. “In all honestly, it was never fully immune to the shortages, but until recently the shortages were not severe enough to cause a decline in shipments and was simply limiting the rate of growth. However, the issues have now compounded, and shortages are affecting all vendors alike. On top of component shortages, the industry has also been hit with other manufacturing and logistical challenges. Stricter testing and quarantining policies are delaying transportation and power supply constraints in China are restricting manufacturing of key components. Despite all efforts to mitigate the impact, all major vendors’ production targets for the fourth quarter have been adjusted downwards. With continued strong demand, we don’t anticipate the supply-side issues to ease until well into next year.”
While almost all regions saw a decline in shipments during 3Q21, the severity of the impact varied between regions. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) suffered the largest declines of -23.2% and -11.6% year over year. However, in regions like the U.S., Western Europe, and China, the declines were much less pronounced at -0.2%, -4.6%, and -4.4% year over year, respectively, as these regions are usually given more priority by vendors.
Samsung finished the quarter in the top position with 69.0 million units shipped and 20.8% market share. This was a year-over-year decline of 14.2% largely due to supply constraints. Apple regained the second position with 50.4 million units shipped for 15.2% market share and an, as characterized by IDC, “incredible” 20.8% year-over-year growth. Xiaomi registered a 4.6% decline in 3Q21 after high double-digit growth over the previous four quarters as it also struggled with supply issues that it hadn’t faced in earlier quarters. Xiaomi still captured the third position with 13.4% share and shipments of 44.3 million units. vivo and OPPO tied* for fourth place with shipments of 33.3 million and 33.2 million units and market shares of 10.1% and 10.0%. vivo saw year-over-year shipment growth of 5.8% while OPPO ended the quarter with 8.6% year-over-year growth.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, these are estimates as Apple does not release the actual iPhone unit shipment figures, but a 20.8% YOY increase in any quarter, much less the one preceding the launch new iPhones is indeed incredible!
Apple Mac notebooks notch all-time record quarter with more than 6.5 million shipments Wednesday, November 3, 2021 10:43 am
Despite the shortage of components and supply constraints, the notebook PC market delivered another great quarter with 8% year-over-year growth, according to a new report by Strategy Analytics. Apple’s Mac business set an all-time record quarter with shipments of more than 6.5 million notebooks in the September quarter, a 10% increase from Q3 2020.
Premium products gained momentum due to commercial demand, while consumer spending also increased thanks to higher discounts on premium products like MacBook Air and gaming notebooks. The report goes on to note that uncertainty clouds the next several quarters as supply constraints increasingly catch up to top vendors.
Chirag Upadhyay, Industry Analyst said in a statement, “The commercial customers’ upgrade kicked in as some employees returned to in-person work with the target to improve productivity. Education demand (including consumer) was better in the developed market as back to university discounts gave consumers good reason to upgrade now rather than later. It’s worth noting that the shortage of components and rising prices for manufacturing and freight costs also delayed some orders for many vendors. In other words, shipments could have been even higher.”
Eric Smith, Director – Connected Computing added, “Chromebook shipment year-over-year growth was down to single digits after many quarters of strong sales. The education demand slowed down in the US as most schools reopened for in-person learning and other spending took priority over computer purchases. A few vendors already had orders cancelled or delayed until new budget becomes available for computing devices again.”
• For the fourth quarter in a row Lenovo has dominated the market with a record in Notebook PC shipments (sell-in) of 15.3 million units in Q3 2021 (calendar year); this represented 5% growth from the 14.5 million shipped the year prior.
• Apple Mac notebooks set an all-time record quarter in company history with shipments of more than 6.5 million MacBook in the September quarter, a 10% increase from Q3 2020
• HP maintained the second position in third quarter for Notebook PC, as shipments reached 14.3 million in Q3 2021 representing a -5% decline year-over-year; since the pandemic began, this was the first quarter where shipments declined year-over-year for the company
• In Q3 2021, Dell shipments grew to 12.2 million units at a 50% growth rate year-on-year; Dell maintained the third position globally but importantly gained 5.1 percentage points of market share over the last year’s quarter to reach 18.2%
• Asus broke through to the top 5 ranks with improved shipments across commercial and consumer users; in Q3 2021, Asus shipments grew to 5.1 million units at a 10% growth rate year-on-year
MacDailyNews Note: The full report from Strategy Analytics’ Connected Computing Devices (CCD) service, Preliminary Global Notebook PC Shipments and Market Share: Q3 2021 Results can be found here.
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