Worldwide smartphone shipments reached 348 million units in the third quarter of 2020, down a slight 1% on year but up 22% sequentially, according to Canalys. Samsung regained the lead with shipments rising 2% from a year earlier to 80.2 million units, while Huawei slipped into second place with shipments falling 23% to 51.7 million units. Xiaomi took third place for the first time, with shipments surging 45% on year to 47.1 million units.

Apple, which had no flagship iPhone launch in September, saw its third-quarter shipments slip 1% from a year earlier to 43.2 million units in the third quarter of 2020, Canalys indicated. Vivo completed the top five, shipping 31.8 million units, while Oppo came sixth with 31.1 million units. Realme moved into seventh, its highest ever position, with 15.1 million units. Lenovo shipped 10.2 million smartphones during the quarter as it finally caught up with orders delayed due to disruption at its Wuhan factory, while Transsion shipped 8.4 million units as recovery started in its key African markets.

"Xiaomi executed with aggression to seize shipments from Huawei," said Canalys analyst Mo Jia. "There was symmetry in Q3, as Xiaomi added 14.5 million units and Huawei lost 15.1 million. In Europe, a key battleground, Huawei's shipments fell 25%, while Xiaomi's grew 88%. Xiaomi took a risk setting high production targets, but this move paid off when it was able to fill channels in Q3 with high-volume devices, such as the Redmi 9 series."

"Samsung suffered in Q2 due to its dependence on offline retail, but Q3 saw a major recovery," said Canalys analyst Shengtao Jin. "Its momentum was fueled by three key factors. Firstly, in many regions it saw pent-up demand from Q2 spill over into Q3. Secondly, it regained second place in India, as its Korean brand was shielded from anti-Chinese sentiment. Thirdly, Samsung ramped up its launches of low-to-mid-range devices, and introduced other incentives, such as discounts and free online deliveries, to stimulate demand."

"This quarter was a welcome relief, with few restrictions on businesses and citizens between July and September," said Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton. "But the ramifications of the first-half lockdowns still persist. Offline channels, for example, are being increasingly pared back, amid store closures and staff redundancies, and vendors now have to compete harder to attain floorspace. Limited supply of 4G chipsets will cause supply chain bottlenecks and increase production costs. Additionally, rising COVID-19 rates in regions such as Europe will soon force governments to bring back stricter nationwide measures. The second wave will stretch government stimulus budgets, and cause widespread bankruptcies and job losses in affected areas. Unfortunately, the relief of Q3 looks set to be short-lived."

In China, the smartphone market declined 8% sequentially and 15% on year to 83 million units in the third quarter of 2020. Huawei, while still the leader, saw its market share decline to 41.2% from 44.3% in the second quarter. Vivo and Oppo maintained second and third place, with shipments declining 13% and 18%, respectively, on year.

Xiaomi, in fourth place, managed post a 19% on-year rise in smartphone shipments during the third quarter narrowing its gap with the top three in the China market. Apple shipped 5.1 million iPhones to China in the third quarter, down 34% sequentially and 1% from the same period in 2019.