Market research company Canalys released a report stating that despite the challenge of chip shortages, global smartphone shipments will reach 1.4 billion units in 2021, an increase of 12% year-on-year, and a strong recovery compared with 2020. Due to the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year, global smartphone shipments fell by 7% year-on-year.

However, component supply bottlenecks will affect the growth potential of smartphone shipments this year. “Backorders are accumulating,” said Ben Stanto, research manager at Canalys. “The industry is competing for semiconductors, and every brand will feel supply pressure.”

Canalys said that smartphone manufacturers still need to decide whether to increase prices. As the prices of key components such as chips and memory rise, smartphone manufacturers must decide whether to bear this part of the cost independently or pass it on to consumers.