iPhone Was the Most Popular Smartphone in Q4 2021

iPhones accounted for around one-fifth of all smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2021, allowing Apple to reclaim first place as the biggest smartphone vendor, according to a report from Canalys.

iPhone 13 Feature Candy Corn
Canalys estimates that the iPhone accounted for 22 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2021. The scale of Apple's shipments is thanks to strong demand for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup, which launched in September last year. Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said:

Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by a stellar performance from the iPhone 13. Apple saw unprecedented iPhone performance in Mainland China, with aggressive pricing for its flagship devices keeping the value proposition strong. Apple's supply chain is starting to recover, but it was still forced to cut production in Q4 amid shortages of key components and could not make enough iPhones to meet demand. In prioritized markets, it maintained adequate delivery times, but in some markets its customers had to wait to get their hands on the latest iPhones.

Apple reclaimed first place from Samsung, which had reigned as the top smartphone vendor in the previous quarter. Samsung fell slightly short of Apple's shipments with a market share of 20 percent. Xiaomi retained its third-place position with 12 percent share of shipments.

canalys smartphone vendors q4 2021
Overall smartphone shipments grew just one percent globally due to supply chain issues, but supply chain disruption primarily affected low-end vendors rather than titans such as Apple. Canalys also noted that it may be several years before component manufacturers are able to sufficiently increase their production capacity to meet demand. Industry bottlenecks are not expected to ease until the second half of 2022.

While supply chain constraints cost Apple $6 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021, the company's supply chain is now firmly recovering as it prepares for a slate of new product launches this year.

Tag: Canalys

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...

Top Rated Comments

Michael Scrip Avatar
49 months ago

Losing market share to Samsung. If I was Apple, that's the only stat I'd be hearing right now.
Samsung has been on the top of this list for many years. But as soon as Apple finally gets to the top... your first thought is "Look out Apple... Samsung is coming for you! Run!"

These market share numbers change constantly. And Samsung smartphones don't run iOS.

So if you want an iPhone... you're gonna buy an iPhone. Apple has a unique desirable product.

But if market share is so important... what if I told you that Honda only has 7% of the worldwide automobile market?

Pathetic, right? Perhaps Honda should close all their factories and quit!

?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
49 months ago
Surprisingly, if you order the iPhone today, even four months later. There is still a solid 1-week wait to get the new iPhone. The demand still going strong.



Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiPa Avatar
49 months ago

Losing market share to Samsung. If I was Apple, that's the only stat. I'd be hearing right now.
gotta churn out those cheap phones on the low end, big numbers there
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiPa Avatar
49 months ago
Let's see 22% on iOS, so that leaves hmmmm, math is hard, oh yah 78% on android/others. What about all those who say apple is a monopoly? By definition, you can't be a monopoly with only 22% market share. Customers do have a choice and it seems about 4 out of 5 are choosing android. So maybe Android is the monopoly?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
49 months ago
iPhones were most popular at the time of their release? What a shocker!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
49 months ago

Yes, but that stat. shows less people want to buy an iPhone and more want a Samsung.
Partially because Samsung phones have terrible resale value compared to the iPhone. They (iPhones) hold value so much longer. It’s not even about the whole argument of which ‘smart phone is made better’, being that the hardware is great, it really comes down to the software experience long-term for the consumer, which the iPhone obviously receives a considerable amount of software updates/support.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)