Starting in 2020, the global chip crisis and components shortages persisted in 2021 which impacted the smartphone production of several OEMs like Samsung, Oppo, and others which mered their performance in Q4, 2021. But, Apple dominated the smartphone market with record high iPhone production in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Apple produced 85.5 million, a record high, iPhone units in Q4, 2022
According to TrendForce’s latest report on “Quarterly Smartphone Production for 4Q21”, Apple produced staggering 85.5 million iPhone units in Q4, 2021. Previously, it was reported that the tech giant cut iPad production by 50% to utilize components for iPhone 13 production in order to facilitate the high demand during the Holiday season.
After unveiling the iPhone 13 series in September, Apple started aggressively ramping up the shipments of these new devices to meet market demand. Owing to its fast-paced sales and marketing rhythms, Apple has been able to take first place in the quarterly ranking of smartphone brands by production market hare for many fourth quarters, and 4Q21 was no exception.
Besides maintaining its top position in the fourth-quarter brand ranking, Apple raised its quarterly iPhone production to a new record high of 85.5 million units, a 66.0% QoQ increase.
The success of the iPhone 13 series earned Apple the status of #1 smartphone brand in China for the first time since December 2015. The company’s smart marketing, pricing strategy, and abyss of competing models propelled Appel to dominate the smartphone market, globally in Q4, 2021. Especially in China, the iPhone maker became the country’s top OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) brand with its highest ever 23% market share in Q4, 2021. TrendForce also states the same reasons for Apple’s success.
In the aspect of pricing strategy, the prices of the new iPhone 13 models were reasonable for consumers, while the price reductions for the older iPhone models were noticeable as well. Moreover, the capturing of the market share left by Huawei can be considered as the main factor behind Apple’s stellar performance in 4Q21. Over time, the orders for Huawei’s flagship models (i.e., the P and Mate series) have been gradually replaced by iPhone orders.
In terms of annual production, Apple reached 233 million units for 2021, up from almost 200 million units for 2020. The growth was mainly attributed to an expansion of Apple’s market share in China from 10% to 16%. Samsung took second place in the global brand ranking for 4Q21 with 71 million units, a 2.9% QoQ increase.
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