BEIJING, January 26 (TMTPOST) —  Vivo overtook Huawei in terms of shipment volume last year to become the most popular brand in the Chinese market, according to the 2021 Chinese Smartphone Market Report released by market research firm Counterpoint Research.

The report shows that the Chinese smartphone market saw a year-over-year decline of 2% in sales in 2021, the fourth consecutive year since 2018. 

Vivo, Oppo, Apple, Xiaomi, Honor and Huawei were the top five brands in shipment volume in 2021, accounting for 22%, 21% (including OnePlus), 16%, 15% 10% and 10% respectively of the total shipment.

Emerging Chinese brand Realme, which specifically targets a younger demographic, ranked sixth in shipment, accounting for 3% of the total shipment.

Realme enjoyed the fastest growth among brands, boasting a year-on-year increase in shipment of 379%, followed by Apple with 47% growth. Xiaomi was the third fastest-growing brand in the Chinese market, growing by 40%.  Oppo, Vivo and Honor grew by 26%, 21% and 6% respectively.

Huawei, however, saw a 68% year-on-year slump in shipment. Huawei’s decline was caused by a few factors, such as the United States’ sanction that blocks many suppliers, increasing competition in China and the pandemic.

Vivo currently has 270 million active users in China, according to the company’s senior vice president Shi Yujian. Besides its success in the Chinese market, the smartphone brand was one of the top three players in overseas markets, including the Philippines, Malaysia and India.

The company successfully penetrated the high-end smartphone market in 2021. Vivo launched a series of new products in 2021, including the Vivo S12 series, Vivo X70 and iQOO 8. Vivo had innovated on the industrial design of its smartphones and tried to provide users with top-notch hardware.

Besides upgrading hardware, Vivo also released its new smartphone system OriginOS Ocean in 2021, an operating system based on Android that provides new visual and interactive experiences for users.