The Western European 5G smartphone market is growing quickly, up nearly 360% YoY in Q3'21 and more than 200% for the full year.

Apple and Samsung are the 5G smartphone leaders in Western Europe and combined hold more than 2/3rds of the total 5G smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2021 and nearly 3/4ths for the whole year.

But Xiaomi is rapidly growing its share, up nearly 1,800% from the year ago quarter and accounting for almost 1 in 5 5G smartphones shipped to the region in Q3'21. 



Xiaomi has filled the vacuum vacated by Huawei in Western Europe, and with a wide portfolio of devices at a range of prices, it is nipping at the heals of Samsung, who holds the overall lead in Android 5G.

Samsung's position looks secure - its brand awareness, device portfolio and technology development put it in a strong position and we forecast it will retain its pole position as the Android 5G leader in Western Europe in 2022.

But Xiaomi's strength means that other vendors will struggle to carve out meaningful share. In fact, Xiaomi's current share of Western Europe's 5G smartphones is greater than all of the vendors below it, combined, in Q3 2021. This dominance means Xiaomi can afford to look ahead to try to take share from its two bigger competitors, rather than focus on the rest of the pack behind it.  Apple and Samsung will need to keep an eye on their fast growing rival.

Detailed 5G smartphone shipments by vendor, by region and by quarter are available to Strategy Analytics clients of our Device Technologies (EDT) service, here.