iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Todd Haselton | CNBC
According to market research firm Gartner, Apple shipped more smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2020 than any other company.
Apple shipped nearly 80 million units this quarter, surpassing all other smartphone makers, including Samsung. According to the report released Monday, it is the first time Apple has topped the list since 2016.
Apple’s strong holiday quarter and new results from Gartner continue to suggest that Apple’s family of iPhone 12 devices, with 5G capabilities and a new external design, is a hit in the market. The results also suggest that Apple has weathered the coronavirus pandemic better than its smartphone rivals.
Last month, a competing estimate said Apple shipped 90.1 million phones in the same quarter, a figure that was the best quarter in smartphone history, according to market researcher IDC, judged by shipments, according to market researcher IDC.
Apple does not report unit sales for its devices. In the fourth quarter of calendar 2020, Apple reported $ 65.6 billion in iPhone sales, up 17% year-on-year. Apple’s business is seasonal and the quarter ending in December is the company’s largest in terms of revenue. Apple’s latest iPhones weren’t even on sale throughout the quarter.
The smartphone market declined 5.4% in 2020 amid the global coronavirus pandemic, according to the report, while Apple shipments grew 3.3%. Samsung still shipped the most devices for a year.
The biggest drop on the table comes from Huawei, which shrank by 24.1% in 2020, although it was still the third largest smartphone maker in terms of volume. Huawei is struggling with US sanctions that have significantly hampered its cell phone business. Samsung does not face the same challenge, but according to Gartner saw the number of shipments fall by 14.6% in 2020.