Global smartphone sales rose more than 10 per cent in Q2, totalling 328.8 million units as demand for 5G-compatible devices offset ongoing production disruption and component shortages in the segment, Gartner data showed.

The research company stated sales to end users increased 10.8 per cent year-over-year from 296.9 million in Q2 2020, while overall global mobile phone sales grew 10.2 per cent.

Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner, noted a second wave of Covid-19 (coronavirus) which caused factory shutdowns in India and Vietnam along with retail closures and online delivery restrictions, affected sales in the recent quarter following a strong start to the year.

However, he added “regions with high penetration for 5G connectivity saw strong demand for 5G smartphones and were growth drivers for leading smartphone vendors”.

One of those vendors was Xiaomi, which continues to go from strength to strength.

The Chinese vendor’s worldwide smartphone sales overtook Apple’s to put it in second spot, after registering an 80.5 per cent growth to 51 million units, buoyed by a stronger online presence and fast expansion outside of Asia-Pacific.

In third place, Apple grew sales 28.3 per cent to 49.3 million, with demand for the iPhone 12 series remaining strong in 5G markets.

Gartner noted long-time leader Samsung expanded its 5G ranges at entry and mid-range prices to target demand for next-generation connectivity, helping it to register sales of 57.7 million units compared with 54.8 million in Q2 2020.

Chinese vendors Oppo and Vivo completed the top five, respectively growing sales by 42.4 per cent to 33.6 million and 41.6 per cent to 32.2 million.

Gupta added pent-up demand from 2020 “continues to drive advantage for global smartphone vendors in 2021”.