Apple logs record quarterly smartphone shipments in Q4, Huawei in freefall

Cupertino, California

APPLE Inc's smartphone shipments jumped 22 per cent to record levels in the fourth quarter, making it the world's biggest seller, while those for Huawei plunged as US sanctions took effect.

An expanded number of models and a new look for the iPhone 12 lineup, Apple's first 5G-enabled devices, tapped pent-up demand for upgrades, especially in China. Shipments hit 90.1 million phones, a record for any quarter, giving it global market share of 23.4 per cent, data from research firm IDC showed.

"In China, Apple seized the perfect opportunity to capture Huawei's market share in the high end, when the latter has essentially not enough supply even though demand for the brand is still there," said Nicole Peng, who tracks China's smartphone market at Canalys.

The data comes on the heels of Apple reporting record holiday quarter sales on Wednesday, with overall revenue crossing US$100 billion for the first time. Revenue in Greater China surged 57 per cent. "We had two of the top three selling smartphones in urban China," CEO Tim Cook told Reuters, adding that upgraders in particular had set an all-time record in China.

As is often the case in Q4 when it launches new products, Apple took the top spot from Samsung Electronics. The South Korean firm saw a 6.2 per cent year-on-year increase to 73.9 million devices, giving it market share of 19.1 per cent.

Huawei Technologies suffered the most pain, with shipments tumbling a record 42.4 per cent to 32.3 million. The company has been battered after the previous US administration blacklisted it on national security grounds, preventing overseas companies from supplying it with key parts including semiconductors. According to IDC, Huawei now ranks 5th compared with the No 2 ranking it had only two quarters earlier. REUTERS