Samsung reclaims spot from Apple as the top smartphone maker
Samsung is back at the top of the global smartphone market in Q1 2024 according to preliminary data from International Data Corporation (IDC).
The South Korean company managed to edge out Apple with 60.1 million shipments which translated to a market share of 20.8%. In comparison, the iPhone maker shipped 50.1 million devices with a market share of 17.3%.
Samsung lost the top spot to Apple last year after the latter narrowly beat it with a market of 20.1% to 19.4%. It marked the first time Samsung lost the top spot since 2010.
However, the situation is not all that rosy for Samsung. Compared to the same period in 2023, Samsung actually shipped 0.7% fewer phones. The same could be said for Apple – it saw a drop of 9.6% in iPhone shipments compared to Q1 2023.
Overall, IDC says the global smartphone recovery continues to gain momentum with the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth. IDC cautions that macroeconomic challenges still remain in many markets.
The market research firm also highlighted that Chinese phone maker Transsion is “becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets”.
Finally, IDC predicts Apple and Samsung to continue to maintain their share in the premium market segment, but says that the return of Huawei and significant gains from Xiaomi, Oppo and OnePlus are likely to put pressure on the top two players.
Source: IDC
