In a year of bad news sales-wise and otherwise, Samsung has one silver lining for the third quarter of the year. For the first time in three years, they beat Apple to become the best-selling smartphone brand in the US from July-September of 2020. They even beat the numbers from a year earlier, signifying that people are still buying devices despite the pandemic. The Korean OEM is probably hoping for similar or better numbers as they’re reportedly set to release new devices this January.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, the last time that Samsung beat Apple when it comes to most devices sold in the U.S. was back in the second quarter of 2017. But with the strength of its new (and old) devices, Samsung has taken the top spot with 33.7% of the smartphone market from July-September of this year. Apple accounted for a 30.2% share while another Korean OEM, LG, was a far third with 14.7% share.
Samsung was able to boost sales trough mid-tier and budget smartphone lines as well las their flagship devices including the recently released Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2. And with Apple releasing fewer devices and at a later date, this means Samsung had a distinct advantage over them. They are also slated to release their new flagship devices in January, earlier than the usual schedule, so that should help them in 2021 as well.
When it comes to the global smartphone market, Samsung was also top during this same period. It had a 21.9% share while Huawei was second with 14.1 and another Chinese brand, Xiaomi at third with 12.7%. Apple was only 4th with an 11.9% market share. Chinese brands are expected to top global sales due to the sheer number of devices that they release so Samsung’s showing is pretty good for them.
The holiday season will also be interesting in terms of smartphone sales so let’s wait for the Q4 sales figures and see if Samsung will be able to keep their top spot. The recent release of the iPhone 12 is a big threat though so we’ll see.