According to new data, premium smartphone sales hit all-time highs in 2021, with Apple’s iPhone topping the charts in every area.
According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone dominated North American smartphone sales, and Apple sold seven of the top ten best-selling handsets globally in 2021.
More study has now shown how the iPhone performed in the ranks of premium phones in each location analyzed.
According to Counterpoint Research, the premium smartphone market (phones costing more than $400) would grow by 24 percent year on year in 2021. It’s the biggest growth rate for premium cellphones ever, and it comes while the total smartphone market expanded by 7% over the same time period.
“A combination of variables, including replacement demand, OEM plans, and supply chain dynamics, will fuel premium market growth in 2021,” stated Counterpoint research director Tarun Pathak.
Pathak also said that 5G demand spurred growth and that companies such as Apple were “active in capitalizing on the premium market vacuum created by Huawei, particularly in China and Western Europe.”
Because Apple does not provide sales numbers, Counterpoint compiles all data from its own sources.
According to these sources, Apple will have a 60 percent share of the premium smartphone market in 2021 for the first time since 2017.
That was partly because the delay to the launch of the iPhone 12 range because of coronavirus pushed sales into 2021.
Counterpoint believes that Apple is in the best position to gain Huawei’s premium smartphone users in the near future. Longer term, it also expects to see growth spearheaded by Apple.