(Yicai Global) Jan. 19 -- Apple regained its title as the world’s best-selling mobile phone maker in the fourth quarter last year, after three quarters in the shade, largely thanks to a huge surge in shipments of the US tech giant's new handset in the China market, according to the latest data.

Apple accounted for 22 percent of the world’s smartphone sales in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021, up from 15 percent in the previous quarter, according to market research firm Canalys.

South Korea’s Samsung slipped into second place with 20 percent market share, the report said. Chinese phone manufacturers Xiaomi, Oppo Mobile Telecommunications and Vivo Communication Technology were in third to fifth places with 12 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively.

“Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by a stellar performance from the iPhone 13,” said Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia. “Apple saw unprecedented iPhone performance in Chinese mainland, with aggressive pricing for its flagship devices keeping the value proposition strong.”

However, global shipments only ticked up 1 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier due to supply chain problems and the recurrent Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore-based Canalys said.

Apple’s supply chain is starting to recover, but the California-based company was still forced to cut production in the fourth quarter amid a shortage of key components and could not make enough iPhones to meet demand, Chaurasia added.

Smartphone makers are already innovating to make the most of their circumstances as the bottlenecks will not ease until the second half of the year, said Canalys Vice President of Mobility Nicole Peng. They are tweaking their device specs in line with available materials, approaching new chipmakers to secure supply, focusing product lines on best-selling models and staggering new product releases, Peng added.

Editor: Kim Taylor