San Francisco, Jun 17 (IANS): Smartphone brands Samsung and Vivo were the world's fastest-growing 5G smartphone vendors in the first quarter of 2021, a new report said.

According to new research by Strategy Analytics, South Korean tech giant Samsung grew 79 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), while Vivo jumped 62 per cent QoQ.

"Global 5G smartphone shipments grew by a healthy 6 per cent QoQ and hit a record of 136 million units during the first quarter of 2021," Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement on Thursday.

"Demand for 5G smartphones remains very strong, particularly in China, the US and Western Europe. We forecast global 5G smartphone shipments to reach a record 624 million units for the full-year 2021, soaring from 269 million in full-year 2020," Hyers added.

According to Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, Samsung is performing well with new 5G models, such as Galaxy S21 5G, S21 ultra 5G and S21+ 5G, in South Korea, North America and parts of Europe.

Vivo was the second fastest-growing 5G smartphone vendor in Q1 2021, jumping 62 per cent QoQ to 19 million units shipped, driven by its iQOO U3 5G and U7 5G smartphones.

Vivo's 5G smartphone strongholds are China and Europe, the company said.

OPPO grew 55 per cent QoQ while Xiaomi increased 41 per cent QoQ, both due to solid volumes at home in China.

Meanwhile, Apple dipped 23 per cent QoQ, following a blowout in Q4 2020 where the new 5G iPhone was wildly popular as a gift during the holiday season.