2021/02/09
News briefing 
With the unexpected hot sales of the iPhone12 series, the trading volume of Apple smartphones has toppled Samsung from the top seat and put itself in the throne for the fourth quarter of 2020. Furthermore, the gap of sales between the two has widened to more than 4%, while total smartphone sales worldwide have also grown by 4.3%.

Impact analysis 
Even though the ban on Huawei had already come into effect in the third quarter, delayed marketing of iPhone 12 did not help Apple enjoy the effect of the transferred orders; as a result, Taiwan’s supply chain was also affected. Just when the external world was wondering how Apple would perform in the fourth quarter, the data released have shown the most amazing strength that the iPhone 12 series can achieve as the first 5G model to support 5G, for it has not only triggered the overall sales volume to an unseen annual growth rate of more than 20%, but also reflects, to some extent, the market outlook of competition after Huawei’s withdrawal from the race.

Upon further observation, the growth rate and overall average of Samsung has been found to remain more or less the same. Basically, Apple and Xiaomi have taken up the shares of some of Huawei’s mid-to-high-end and mid-to-low-end models, benefitting from the natural growth of the environment. Compared to Xiaomi and Huawei, Apple exerts some crucial influence on such PCB products as flexible boards, carrier boards, and HDI. If such a competitive situation lasts, it is believed that Taiwanese manufacturers will benefit from the trend in 2021.