smartphone idc market analysis

Even though worldwide smartphone shipments declined year over year in the fourth quarter of 2021, Samsung still reigns as the top smartphone brand in 2021 in terms of market share. Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 362.4 million phones during the fourth quarter of 2021, which was down 3.2% year over year but better than IDC’s forecast. On an annual basis though, the market grew 5.7% in 2021 with 1.35 billion smartphones shipped. "As we mentioned last quarter, the supply chain and component shortages started to have meaningful impact on the smartphone market as we entered the second half of the year, and this continues to be the case as we've now entered 2022. With channel inventory low in almost all regions and as supply constraints ease up towards the middle of the year, IDC expects this pent-up demand to drive the market toward healthy growth in 2022." Source: IDC Apple is preparing to enter the foldable smartphone market with its first device, expected to launch in 2026, and analysts believe it will have a major impact on the industry. IDC notes that foldables will continue to outperform the wider smartphone market, which has slowed in growth in recent years. By 2029, foldables are forecast to represent more than 10 percent of the total smartphone market value. Read more in our articles including "IDC: Samsung top smartphone brand in 2021 market share" and "IDC: iPhone Fold to Take 34% of Market Value by 2026".