iPhone Was the World's Most Popular Smartphone in Q4 2021 [Chart]

The iPhone was the world's most popular smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a new report from Canalys.

Apple accounted for 22% of worldwide smartphone shipments in the quarter, thanks to strong demand for the iPhone 13. Overall, shipments for the quarter grew just 1% due to supply issues and COVID-19. Samsung fell to second place with a market share of 20%, Xiaomi came in third at 12%, OPPO was in fourth at 9%, and vivo came in fifth at 8%.

“Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by a stellar performance from the iPhone 13,” said Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia. “Apple saw unprecedented iPhone performance in Mainland China, with aggressive pricing for its flagship devices keeping the value proposition strong. Apple’s supply chain is starting to recover, but it was still forced to cut production in Q4 amid shortages of key components and could not make enough iPhones to meet demand. In prioritized markets, it maintained adequate delivery times, but in some markets its customers had to wait to get their hands on the latest iPhones.”


“Supply chain disruption affected low-end vendors the most,” said Canalys VP Mobility Nicole Peng. “Component manufacturers are eking out additional production, but it will take years for major foundries to significantly increase chip capacity. Smartphone brands are already innovating to make the most of their circumstances, tweaking device specs in response to available materials, approaching emerging chipmakers to secure new sources for ICs, focusing product lines on the best-selling models and staggering new product releases. These practices lend an advantage to larger brands, and they are set to stay for the short term, as bottlenecks will not ease until the second half of 2022.”

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