iPhone slips amid industry upturn

Worldwide smartphone sales opened in 2024 with an 8% quarterly increase from the same period in 2023, even though the iPhone has fallen into one of its worst slumps since Apple introduced the device 17 years ago, according to the research firm International Data Corp.

The iPhone’s struggles, primarily rooted in China, enabled Samsung to reclaim the mantle as the smartphone sales leader, a 21% share of the global market, according to IDC’s preliminary figures for the January-March period. The turnabout came after Apple had fleetingly catapulted to the top spot during the October-December period on a robust reception for the iPhone 15 models released in late September.

But that holiday-season quarter is looking more like an aberration for Apple, which saw its iPhone sales for the company’s fiscal year ending in September decline 2% from the same period in 2022.

And now things are getting worse after iPhone shipments suffered a year-over-year decrease of 10% during the January-March period, according to IDC. Apple isn’t scheduled to announce its results for the quarter until May 2, but IDC’s estimate indicates that the iPhone posted its second largest year-over-year quarterly sales decline behind a 15% drop in October-December 2018.