The premium smartphone market has been quite profitable for the players in the game, especially in 2021. Latest Counterpoint Research figures show that the segment grew 24% YoY last year to reach a new summit, even outpacing the 7% growth of the overall smartphone market. Premium smartphones contributed to 27% of the global smartphone sales, which again is a new record.
All this was driven by a number of factors such as upgrades to the affordable-premium segment in emerging economies and replacement demand for 5G devices in advanced economies. Companies like Apple, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi continued to fill up the hole left by Huawei, especially in China and Western Europe.
OEM-wise, Apple continued to lead the market, touching the 60% market share mark for the first time since 2017 driven by iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 sales — the company’s first 5G-supporting series. Apple even reached its highest ever market share in China in Q4 2021.
Samsung saw a 6% growth in sales in the premium segment, but it lost share. The Galaxy S21 series performed better than the S20 series but the gains were somewhat offset by the lack of a new Note series, FE series refresh, and component shortages.
But it was OPPO and vivo that perhaps saw the biggest gains in 2021, growing 116% and 103%, respectively, to become a part of the five in the premium segment in multiple countries. OPPO has been growing steadily in Europe while vivo oversaw some great figures reeled in by the X60 and X50 series in China and Southeast Asia.
Xiaomi meanwhile featured in the top five list for the premium segment in all regions it sells, with gains driven by the Mi 11 series.
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