If you are thinking about buying a mobile phone and want to be the king of the market, you have to know that today the best-selling brand has changed hands. Samsung has once again topped the list of favorites of smartphone users worldwide, overtaking Apple. The battle between the two is a constant tug of war and this time the South Korean multinational takes the lead after the apple firm suffered a drop in sales of almost 10% during the first quarter of 2024.
According to the preliminary results of the ‘Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker’ report created by the consulting firm IDC, global shipments of smartphones increased by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. Specifically, sales rose to 289.4 million of units, compared to 268.5 million in the first three months of 2023.
For this reason, the report’s authors point out that “this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that the recovery is underway.” However, they emphasize the fact that the industry is not completely out of the woods, as macroeconomic challenges persist in many markets.
Specifically, Samsung’s smartphone sales reached a total of 60.1 million units until March. This figure is 0.7% lower than the 60.5 million of a previous year, which allowed the South Korean company to maintain a market share of 20.8%, compared to 22.5% a year before.
The figures of the rest of the brands.
However, it was the sharp decline of 9.6% in Apple’s smartphone sales, to 50.1 million units from 55.4 million a year earlier, that allowed Samsung to overtake the American giant in the ranking, whose market share reduced in the first quarter to 17.3% from 20.7%.
On the other hand, at the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, sales increased from 33.8%, to 40.8 million units, with a market share of 14.1%, ahead of the Chinese Transsion, with 28.5 million sold (+84.9%) and a share of 9.9%, and OPPO, with 25.2 million sold (-8.5%) and a market share of 8.7%.
For Ryan Reith, group vice president of Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers at IDC, both Apple and Samsung are expected to maintain their position in the high segment of the market, and in relation to this he explained that “While Apple managed to capture first place at the end “Still, factors such as the resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as the notable gains of Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus and vivo, may cause that the Californian and the Seoul-based look for areas to expand and diversify.
The future of the smartphone market.
For all of the above, Reith summarizes the situation in that “As the recovery progresses, we are likely to see the major companies gain share while smaller brands struggle for position.”
Thus, according to Nabila Popal, research director of IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, the smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years, “strengthened and changed,” with growth in value and prices. . Average Sales Rate (ASP) as consumers shift to more expensive devices knowing they will keep their devices longer.
Thus, the expert considers that there is a shift in power between the top 5 companies, and this seems to continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world. This is evidenced by Xiaomi with its strong recovery from the large declines experienced in the last two years and Transsion gaining a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets.
“While both major players experience negative growth in the first quarter, it appears that Samsung is in an overall stronger position than in recent quarters,” Popal explained.
