Samsung and Huawei dominated the global 5G smartphone market in Q1 2020

Samsung shipped more than 6.7 million 5G-enabled Galaxy smartphones last year, dominating the global market with a 53.9% share. In the first quarter of 2020, however, the company's share of the global market fell significantly. As per a report from The Korea Herald, Samsung shipped 8.3 million 5G phones in Q1 2020, allowing it to capture 34.4% of the global 5G smartphone market.

While Samsung was still the No.1 5G smartphone vendor in the first quarter of 2020, Huawei was a close second with a market share of 33.2%. The Chinese company shipped around 8 million 5G smartphones during the period. BBK-owned Vivo was the third-largest 5G smartphone vendor in Q1 2020, with a market share of 12%. Xiaomi held the fourth spot with a market share of 10.4%, while OPPO came in fifth and captured 5% of the global 5G smartphone market.

In order to take on Chinese Android OEMs, Samsung launched its first "affordable" 5G-enabled phones last month: the Galaxy A51 5G and Galaxy A71 5G. Whether or not the new mid-range 5G Galaxy phones will help Samsung increase its market share in the near future, remains to be seen. Samsung will also face a strong challenge from Apple later this year, after the debut of the 5G-enabled iPhone 12 lineup.

Even though Samsung remains the world's largest smartphone vendor, Apple completely dominates the U.S. smartphone market. As per the latest data from Counterpoint Research, three of the top five best-selling smartphones in the U.S. in Q1 2020 were iPhones. Samsung's entry-level Galaxy A10e was the fourth best-selling smartphone in the country during the period, while the Galaxy A20 grabbed the fifth spot. Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak and the "slow" initial sales of the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung's sales declined 23% year-on-year in the U.S. this past quarter.