Apple Inc. sold more smartphones than any other handset manufacturer in the fourth quarter, according to new Gartner research published today, marking the first time since 2016 that the iPhone maker has topped the global shipments chart.

Apple took the No. 1 spot in the last three months of 2020 with about 80 million iPhones sold. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. came in second by shipping approximately 62 million phones. 

The jump in orders Apple recorded during the fourth quarter is particularly impressive when put into the context of its 2019 numbers. The 80 million iPhones sold during the three-month period represent an increase of 10 million units from the fourth quarter of 2019. Apple managed the sales surge despite the fact that the global smartphone market shrank 12.5% in 2020 by Gartner’s estimates.

The introduction of the iPhone 12 in October was a major contributor to the company’s strong quarterly performance. All four versions of the device support 5G, which is believed to have helped motivate existing iPhone users to upgrade from previous models lacking support for the high-speed connectivity standard. Apple’s competitive pricing strategy no doubt played a role, too: The most affordable of the four iPhone 12 models costs about half as much as the flagship edition. 

“The sales of more 5G smartphones and lower-to-mid-tier smartphones minimized the market decline in the fourth quarter of 2020,” said Gartner senior research director Anshul Gupta. “Even as consumers remained cautious in their spending and held off on some discretionary purchases, 5G smartphones and pro-camera features encouraged some end users to purchase new smartphones or upgrade their current smartphones in the quarter.”

Apple’s strong fourth-quarter hardware sales catapulted its financial results past analyst projections. The company topped $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time during the quarter ended Dec. 26, thanks mainly to record iPhone sales of $65 billion. The latter figure represents about $4 billion more than what Apple’s smartphone business generated during its previous best quarter in fiscal 2018.

The increased iPhone demand is good news for Apple’s services unit. Growing the iPhone installed base allows the company to expand the addressable market for its iOS-exclusive music, news and other subscription-based offerings. The company’s services unit increased revenues 24% in the last three months of 2020, to $15.76 billion. 

Photo: Apple