The global smartphone market increased by seven per cent year-on-year for the whole of 2021, despite supply shortages.
Research from Canalys shows 1.35 billion smartphones were shipped throughout the year which is close to 2019’s figure of 1.37bn units.
Samsung maintained the top spot with a 20pc global market share and nearly 275 million smartphones shipped.
Apple took second place thanks to its new iPhone series, growing 11pc YoY and shipping 230 million smartphones.
Xiaomi shipped over 191 million smartphones and took third place, while OPPO and Vivo took fourth and fifth place respectively, with a growth of 22pc and 15pc.
Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said: “Many vendors delivered their best performance in 2021, expanding smartphone shipments by double digits to compare with, and surpass, pre-COVID-19 levels.
“The key growth driver for the industry came from the vast mass market segment, especially in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa as well as Latin America.
“Going forward, the supply imbalance will ease gradually as chipset vendors ramp up production, and the price of 5G chipsets falls, which will help 5G devices become the next volume driver in 2022.”