The smartphone business is competitive. Four huge companies are constantly battling for the top spot in terms of device shipments. Now there's a new company sitting on the throne, as Samsung has slid past Huawei to become the world's largest smartphone maker, according to a report from IDC.

But that's not the only movement, as Apple has fallen out of the third spot. Xiaomi stepped in and bumped the maker of the iPhone down a peg into the fourth position.

The World's Biggest Smartphone Makers

According to the report, Samsung shipped an impressive 80.4 million units for a 22.7 percent market share. Both Canalys and Counterpoint reports also show Samsung as the top smartphone maker, meaning varying reports don't contest its position.

Huawei doesn't just see a decline in western markets, as the firm also saw a decrease in Chinese shipments of 15 percent, which is more than a little concerning for the company. It'll be interesting to see if the firm can rebound, as it could only take one phone blowing up in a big way to get sales back on track.

And for as much as Huawei is falling, Xiaomi is blowing up even faster. The IDC report indicates that Xiaomi saw year-over-year growth of 42 percent, which is how it could blow ahead of Apple in the rankings. If things keep going this way, we very well could see Xiaomi unseat Huawei for the number two spot by Q4 of this year.

Apple launched the iPhone 12 later than usual. That certainly caused the company to take a hit, as the release of a new iPhone always causes a large bump in sales. As a result, the company sold 5 million fewer units year-over-year, which is an 11 percent drop when compared to Q3 2019. IDC expects Apple to make a recovery once the iPhone 12 is fully launched.

In all, Samsung found itself with 22 percent of the market share, Huawei had 14 percent, Xiaomi was just behind with 13 percent, and Apple had 11 percent during Q3 2020. Rounding out the list in order is as follows: Oppo with 8 percent of the market share, Vivo with 8 percent, Realme with 4 percent, Lenovo with 3 percent, LG with 2 percent, Tecno with 2 percent, and all other manufacturers combined for 13 percent.

Interestingly, total smartphone sales dropped substantially year-over-year. In Q3 2019, the business saw sales of 380 million. In 2020, they reached 365.6 million, a drop of almost 15 million worldwide sales.

Choice Is Always a Good Thing

No matter which kind of phone you use, it's nice to know there are so many companies out there finding success in the smartphone world. More phone makers gives us more choices, which is never a bad thing.