Strategy Analytics predicted shipments of 5G smartphones would hit 624 million this year, up from 269 million in 2020 on the back of strong demand in Western Europe, China and the US.

In an update to figures released in April, the company placed total Q1 5G shipments at 135.7 million compared with the 133.9 million originally reported following an adjustment to the others category from 19 million to 20.8 million.

Its ranking by vendor remained unchanged, with Apple top on 40.4 million units; Oppo second on 21.5 million (up from 1.2 million in Q1 2020); Vivo 19.4 million (2.9 million); Samsung 17 million (8.3 million); and Xiaomi 16.6 million (2.5 million).

Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh noted Samsung “has extremely low presence in China, the world’s biggest 5G market” which weighed on its outlook.

“Conversely, Chinese vendors largely have no presence in the high-value US market”.

The company previously credited growing availability of 5G models as a driver of overall smartphone shipments in Q1.

It placed total smartphone shipments at 340 million units, meaning 5G devices accounted for 39.9 per cent compared with 8.7 per cent in Q1 2020 when it stated 275 million units were shipped overall.

A caveat to all smartphone figures is the impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus) on numbers throughout 2020, which may have muted demand and restricted access to new devices regardless of the technology offered.