William Gallagher
New research claims that premium smartphones reached record sales in 2021, and that Apple's iPhone was the top seller in every territory.
Counterpoint Research has previously reported that the iPhone dominated North American smartphone sales, and that Apple sold 7 out of the 10 best-selling smartphones worldwide in 2021. Now further research shows how the iPhone has fared in the rankings of premium phones in each region studied.
According to Counterpoint Research, the premium smartphone market - defined as phones costing over $400 - grew 24% YoY in 2021. It's the highest ever growth for premium smartphones, and came as overall the smartphone market grew by 7% in the same period.
"The premium market growth in 2021 was driven by a mix of factors," said Counterpoint research director Tarun Pathak, " including replacement demand, OEM strategies and supply chain dynamics."
Pathak also said that demand for 5G drove growth, and that firms including Apple, "aggressive in capitalizing on the premium market gap left by Huawei, especially in China and Western Europe."
Apple does not release sales figures, so all data is compiled by Counterpoint from its own sources. Those sources report that in 2021, Apple reached a 60% share of the premium smartphone market 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.
"[The future] launch of foldables at a lower price than before will also drive growth in the premium market," said senior analyst Varun Mishra. "Samsung has showcased foldables as a viable market. A foldable phone from Apple will be a nod to the robustness of the technology and further drive growth."
Separately, Apple has most recently been predicted to launch an iPhone Fold in 2024.
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
7 Comments
Keyword: premium. Most people are not at premium. Could we have proper global stats of entire market? If we focus on high-end then even Apple is not there at all 9I suggest study what high-end used by celebrities and high profile traders is, but security in that region is not what Apple is capable of yet).
The overall market didn’t grow once the premium growth is taken out of the total. So the only real area of growth in the smartphone market is in the premium area.
less expensive phones don’t nake any real profit for the manufacturer, and that a problem. Apple’s average price is around $758-800. The average Android phone sells for around $240-265. That’s why so few manufacturers are making a profit.maciekskontakt said:
A $429 phone is really considered to be in the sweet spot. It’s right in the middle of the pricing range. iPhones command a premium. That means that people will pay more for an iPhone than for an Android phone.
i don’t understand what you’re talking about. What high end phones is Apple not competing against?
Doesn’t make sense to buy a knockoff iPhone for over $300 bucks and trends reflect that.
If you also notice, companies who rip-off Apple the most will be 2nd/3rd place in premium.
Apple needs to push the Watch and AirPods even further the next 5 years to kick out the piggybackers off the top end even more. When iKnockoff morons claim Apple doesn’t have much unique features because their knockoff has already copied them all, remind them they don’t have Apple Watch support and full AirPods support. Also android can’t copy security and privacy and those features are HUGE and overlooked by the media and morons.