harmonise toIDC ’s figuresfor the first quartern of 2024 , Samsung has prompt back to the top position with 60.1 million shipments , a market share of 20.8 per centum . Apple is in second position with 50.1 million ( 17.3 per centum ) while the Taiwanese house Xiaomi sits in third place with 40.8 million unit and a share of 14.1 percent .
Samsung outperformed Apple across 2023 as a whole , but the Cupertino company did top the table at the end of the year . Apple traditionally perform especially well in the fall / early winter period following its annual iPhone refresh in September .
Nevertheless , Apple ’s drop back to 2d spot is n’t just about the expected divergence between its seasonally red-hot Q4 and boring Q1 . The company ’s yr - on - year comparability was markedly worse than that of Samsung , and indeed of all the other companies in the top 5 . While Apple ’s Q1 2024 was 9.6 percent down on Q1 2023 , Oppo was down by 8.5 percent and Samsung by just 0.7 percent . Third - post Xiaomi and fourth - place Transsion ( which has a secure beachhead in Africa ) were both up year on year , by 33.8 percent and 84.9 percent severally .
“ While Apple managed to catch the top spot at the death of 2023 , Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone supplier in the first quarter , ” commented IDC group vice president Ryan Reith . “ While IDC expects these two companies to wield their grip on the mellow end of the market , the resurgence of Huawei in China , as well as notable gains from Xiaomi , Transsion , Oppo / OnePlus , and vivo will belike have both OEMs look for surface area to expand and diversify . ”
It ’s worth emphasising , however , that ( while second blank space is n’t bad by any means ) Apple would do substantially better if the footing of the depth psychology were tweak . For one thing , measuring by building block despatch punishes Apple ( and , to a lesser extent , Samsung ) for selling premium , high - allowance phones rather than focusing on volume . If the table was organized by revenue or , better still , profit , a lot of Apple ’s rivals would fall by the roadside .
second , while Apple has potent competitor on the global stage , the company ’s authorisation in its home base market is profound . If you ask a random group of U.S. teenagers which brand of phone they intend to buy next time , the proportion naming Applewould be startling .
Still , aside from inter - brand squabbles , IDC ’s figures appear to paint a rosy picture of the industry as a whole , with overall despatch up 7.8 % on the same stop last year . “ The smartphone market is emerging from the upheaval of the last two years both strong and changed , ” said IDC research manager Nabila Popal .
