According to Canalys data, vendors ranging from the industry’s progenitor to South Korean dishwasher makers shipped 31.9 million smartphones in the United States in Q2 2020, a 5% year-on-year decline, but an 11% quarter-on-quarter increase.
Resumption of Chinese factory operations at the end of March and stores reopening in May and June were key contributors to sequential market growth. Apple and Samsung accounted for seven out of every 10 devices sold, and Apple established a new domestic record in Q2, shipping 15.0 million iPhones.
Apple shipped 15% more of its flagship iPhone 11 than last year’s best-seller, the iPhone XR. With the launch of the iPhone SE, Apple’s quarterly market share ballooned to 47%.
United States smartphone shipments and annual growth
Canalys Smartphone Market Pulse: Q2 2020
Samsung shipped 59% fewer Galaxy S20 5G series handsets than S10 series models in Q2 2019. Rampant point-of-sale closures immediately followed Q1 channel fill, and Samsung found itself leaning heavily on its low-end Galaxy A10e and A20 devices to prop up shipments. The average price of a smartphone in the US hit US$503, 10% lower than in Q2 2019.
Canalys Analyst Vincent Thielke said, “As the coronavirus pandemic forced consumers to stay at home, 5G adoption in the US failed to take off. Store closures and virus fears limited interaction with demonstration models, tight consumer budgets further constrained spending power, and with scarce 5G network coverage in American suburbia, consumers saw plenty of reasons to buy a 4G device instead. Despite the lackluster 5G roll-out so far, strong carrier marketing in coming quarters will be instrumental in catalyzing a multi-year transition period from LTE to 5G.”
MacDailyNews Take: To the innovator goes the spoils.
Samsung and Google are history in the USA.