Skip to main content

Samsung takes back #1 spot in global smartphone shipments from Apple, at least for now

Samsung has been the top player in the global smartphone market for a while but, recently, the company briefly lost its crown to Apple. Now, though, it seems like things are back in Samsung’s favor.

In 2023, for the first time, Apple managed to ship more smartphones than Samsung had on a global scale. It wasn’t exactly a crushing defect, with Apple taking the edge by just 4%, but it was certainly notable. It also came on the back of Q4 performance where Apple had much better sales compared to Samsung.

According to data from Counterpoint Research shared by The Korea Times, Samsung beat out Apple by a narrow margin to kick off 2024. The company shipped 19.69 million smartphones in the first quarter of the year (presumably only looking at certain regions), beating Apple’s 17.41 million. Samsung, according to the report, currently holds 20% of the global smartphone market, while Apple has dropped down to 18%.

Further breaking down those numbers, Samsung’s share of smartphone shipments during the first quarter was 34% in Europe and 36% in the US, likely on the back of the Galaxy S24 launch. Apple’s share in the States during the same time period dropped down to 48%.


Top comment by kiniku

Liked by 11 people

No surprise. The iPhone has been comparatively stagnant for the last 3 years.

View all comments

Update 4/15: The IDC is now offering some further insight into Samsung’s comeback. The company is now at 20.8% of the global market, where Apple has dropped to 17.3%.

As a whole, the smartphone market in Q1 2024 grew by around 8%, while Xiaomi and Transsion in particular saw considerable year-over-year growth.


Will this suddenly reverse the ongoing battle between Samsung and Apple for the top global spot? Surely not. But it shows that Samsung has had a killer quarter, something the company will definitely want to continue, but that’ll all come down to the next several months…

More on Samsung:

Follow Ben: Twitter/XThreads, and Instagram

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.


Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications