Apple edges Samsung in smartphone sales
Apple ended Samsung Electronics’ 12-year run as the largest seller of smartphones in the world, taking a 20% market share in 2023, says a report from International Data Corp.
Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, followed by China’s Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion, preliminary data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.
The change in ranking comes after a tough year when consumers were slow to upgrade smartphones and chose cheaper handsets due to high inflation and economic uncertainty.
A slower-than-expected recovery in China, the world’s largest smartphone market, also weighed on sales. Apple and Transsion, which sells Tecno, Infinix and itel brands, were the only two of the top five smartphone vendors to grow sales in 2023, even though the overall market fell 3.2% to 1.17-billion units and hit a decade low.
“While we saw some strong growth from low-end Android players like Transsion and Xiaomi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets, the biggest winner is clearly Apple,” said Nabila Popal, research director at IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team. Samsung phone shipments were down 13.6%, while iPhone shipments were up 3.7% in 2023, according to IDC data.
Samsung focused on the mid- to high-end segment for
profitability but lost share in the low-end segment, said Amber Liu of research firm Canalys.
Apple is facing pressure in China from a resurgent Huawei as well as from budget Chinese brands. The iPhone maker is offering discounts of as much as 5% on some models in the country to attract customers.
Microsoft on Friday overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable public company, as Wall Street grew more concerned over demand for its iPhones and other high-end gadgets. /