Apple increased its 2021 sales by 20 percent despite supply chain issues: analysis

Supply chain issues impacted every market worldwide, and the smartphone market was no different.

A new analysis from Gartner says the market felt the pinch in sales during the second half of 2021; global sales declined by 1.7 percent.

Despite this, Apple maintained its position as selling the most units in the fourth quarter of 2021 among the top five smartphone vendors in the world.

Apple sold nearly 83 million phones, representing almost 22 percent of the market. The company saw a 3.8 percent increase in sales compared to Q4 2020. The analysis notes 5G upgrades drove the sales.

Worldwide smartphone sales Q4 2021. Source: Gartner (March 2022)

Samsung represented the second-highest sales in the quarter, with nearly 69 million units sold. The company increased its smartphone sales by 11 percent year-over-year.

When looking at the results for the entire year, Apple ranks second, selling over 239 million smartphones, increasing its yearly sales by almost 20 percent. Samsung ranks first with more than 272 million sales. Annual sales increased by 7.6 percent. These figures helped global smartphone sales increase by six percent.

Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo round out the top five smartphone manufacturers. Looking at fourth-quarter results, Xiaomi maintained its position in third place. But Oppo and Vivo experienced significant declines.

While all three companies expanded their networks in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe, Apple’s strong sales in China during the quarter overshadowed the demand for phones from the three Chinese manufacturers.

Source: Gartner Inc.