What you need to know
- A new report says Apple dominated the smartphone market in America at the start of 2022.
- Canalys estimates it shipped 19.9 million phones, a 51% market share and growth of 19% on last year.
- The report says that the iPhone 13 and the more affordable iPhone SE have helped with this growth.
A new report says that Apple dominated the smartphone market in the US last quarter, taking a 51% share of all shipments to open the year.
New figures from Canalys indicate that 39 million units were shipped in Q1 2022, 3.7% more than the same period last year.
The big winner by far was Apple, which saw shipments grow 19% to 19.9 million, a whopping 51% of the whole market. Its next closest competitor Samsung too a 27% market share but only exhibited growth of 1%.
"The North American smartphone market has been buoyed by Apple's strong growth," said Brian Lynch." Lynch says that Apple's best iPhone, the iPhone 13 was the "key driver" in Apple's early-year success thanks to its high popularity. Apple has also reportedly shifted more devices back to North America because of uncertainty around global demand, having prioritized other regions at the end of 2021.
Lynch also says the iPhone SE is a great affordable option for "many of North America's fiercely loyal iOS users" and says that carrier investment in C-band and sub-6GHz 5G will open the door for more iPhone SE growth in the coming quarters.
Of the market in general, Lynch says that high inflation is putting "an enormous amount of pressure on carriers" in the U.S., and expects supply issues to remain a key bottleneck in the upcoming quarter.
