Samsung has become the early leader of the 5G smartphone market, shipping 8.3 million handsets across the world during the first quarter of 2020 for a 34.4 percent market share, according to data from Strategy Analytics. The South Korean company took advantage of its strong global distribution networks and operator partnerships and the popularity of its S20 5G and S20 Ultra 5G devices to top the ranking, closely followed by Huawei with a 33.2 percent market share after shipping 8.0 million 5G smartphones, nearly all in China. The top 5 was rounded out by three other Chinese vendors – Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo – with 12.0 percent, 10.4 percent and 5.0 percent of the global market respectively.
The report added that worldwide shipments of 5G phones in the first quarter of 2020 came to 24.1 million, outstripping shipments of 18.7 million in 2019 as a whole. Strong demand from Chinese consumers, reflecting the speed with which Chinese operators have rolled out 5G networks in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, accounted for the result, although demand is also growing in South Korea, the US and Europe, added the report.
