The launch of the 5G variant of the iPhone has propelled Apple to the top of the global smartphone makers’ rankings for the first time in five years, bucking the broader slowdown in handset sales during the pandemic.
According to the research firm Gartner, Apple sold almost 80m phones in the final three months of 2020 following the launch of the iPhone 12, overtaking Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone maker for the first time since 2016.
Huawei suffered a sharp slide, with smartphone sales down 41 per cent in the quarter due to sanctions imposed by the US government. It dropped to fifth place in the league table, below Chinese rivals Xiaomi and Oppo, as the US clampdown on its use of Google apps bit into its market share.