The North American 5G smartphone market has many vendors currently vying for market-share.  But in the battle to ship the most, there are really only two vendors, Apple and Samsung, who dominate shipments. 

Samsung was the first to launch a 5G smartphone in North America, in Q2 2019, and through Q3 2020 it was the leading 5G smartphone vendor in the market.

When Apple entered the 5G smartphone market, from Q4 2020, everything changed.  Apple now holds the lead in smartphone shipments, a result of its dominant position in the US market. 



Meanwhile, Samsung is the leading 5G Android smartphone vendor.  Between the two, Apple and Samsung hold nearly 90% share of 5G smartphone shipments in any given quarter, leaving little opportunity for others to gain meaningful share.

In 2022 the market will open up somewhat as vendors offer a bigger portfolio of 5G smartphones. Motorola is best positioned to capture increased share, taking the 3rd place spot traditionally by LG, which abandoned smartphones earlier in 2021.

Will other vendors grow their 5G smartphone share? Can TCL-Alcatel, offering low-cost 5G smartphones, carve out a position as an alternative to both Samsung and Motorola in inexpensive 5G smartphones?

Clients of Strategy Analytics' Device Technologies (EDT) service can access the report, North American 5G Smartphones Forecast by Country by Quarter to Q4 2022, here.