According to the report, in Q4 2020 which was when the first 5G iPhones were launched, Apple was estimated to have shipped out over 50 million 5G iPhones, which accounted for about 40% of the total global 5G smartphone shipments. Oppo actually came in second place but even then, they weren’t even close when they shipped around 14 million 5G smartphones.
Based on Strategy Analytics’ report, the top five 5G smartphone vendors include Apple, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, and Xiaomi in that order. However, moving into 2021, the numbers are changing. Apple is still leading at almost 30% of total 5G smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2021, but its competitors appear to be quickly catching it.
However, it should be noted that since Apple typically launches new phones once a year, these figures shouldn’t be surprising, especially with popular handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S21 which launched a few months ago. We’re not sure if Apple will be able to maintain their lead throughout the year, but it’s actually surprising that even though they were late, they still managed to dominate.