Samsung's early Galaxy S21 launch pays off as Apple loses the lead in Q1

Last updated: March 29th, 2021 at 17:52 UTC+01:00

Samsung was the largest smartphone maker in 2020 overall, just the visitor lost the tiptop spot to Apple in the fourth quarter of the year due to the success of the iPhone 12 series. All the same, it turns out that Apple wasn't able to maintain the lead for long, as new reports betoken that Samsung has in one case once more topped the global smartphone shipment charts in February.

Samsung has reportedly shipped a total of 24 1000000 smartphones in Feb and has captured 23.1% market share, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics cited by The Morung Limited. In contrast, Apple tree reportedly shipped 23 million smartphones over the same time period and has secured 22.2% of the marketplace.

The gap betwixt Samsung and Apple has narrowed

Although Samsung was able to retake the lead from Apple before the end of the first quarter, this appears to have come at a price, equally the gap between the 2 tech giants is now a lot narrower than it used to exist in previous years.

Samsung usually held a market share atomic number 82 of more than 5% over Apple tree in Q1 in whatever given yr, merely that'south no longer the case. The gap between them is now a lilliputian nether 1%, which means that Samsung'south position remains nether threat even though it is technically the acme OEM.

Samsung had the foresight to combat the success of the iPhone 12

In light of this news, it looks like Samsung's strategy to bring the Milky way S21 launch closer to the iPhone 12 past a couple of months has paid off. Every bit many of you know, the Galaxy S series has traditionally been unveiled in February-March, but the Milky way S21 lineup was brought to the market in mid-Jan.

Assuming that the Galaxy S21 serial would've been unveiled within the usual timeframe, this could've given Apple plenty time to capitalize on the success of the iPhone 12 and maintain the pb throughout Q1 2021. However, Samsung's decision seems to accept worked in its favor, and it goes to show that the company has the foresight to realize when information technology'southward nether threat months ahead of time.

Moving forward, Samsung will likely increase the gap between it and Apple over the next couple of quarters with the assistance of its promising Galaxy A mid-range series.

Image of Galaxy S21

SamsungMilky way S21