According to IDC, Samsung has overtaken Apple as the global leader in smartphone sales. (It was only three months ago that Apple topped Samsung for the first time in global smartphone shipments.) 

In the first quarter of 2024, 289.4 million phones were sold. How did that break down by manufacturer? The numbers tell a very clear picture:

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• Samsung – 60.1 million units sold with a 22.5% market share
• Apple – 50.1 million units sold with a 20.7% market share
• Xiaomi – 40.8 million units sold with an 11.4% market share
• Tanssion – 28.5 million units sold with a 5.7% market share
• OPPO – 25.2 million units sold with a 10.3% market share

The big surprise is the absence of Google. Even with its flagship Pixel 8 phones continuing to gain popularity, the company can’t crack the top 10. The good news for Google is that the number of Android phones shipped in Q1 far overshadows iOS devices, with Android shipping a total of 144.6 million units.

Those numbers do not include the Others category, which sold 84.7 million units.

It’s also telling to compare the numbers between Q12024 and Q12023. Last year’s comparable numbers look like this:

• Samsung – 60.5 million units sold
• Apple – 55.4 million units sold

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While Samsung only saw a decrease of 0.4 million units, Apple decreased by 5.3 million units.

What’s behind this change? Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, expects both Apple and Samsung will maintain their hold on the high-end portion of the market as the rise of the Chinese companies will force the two smartphone leaders to look for other areas where they can continue to expand and diversify.

That’s an easy conclusion to draw, with Xiaomi going from 30.5 million units sold in Q12023 to 40.8 million units sold in Q12024. 

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At the moment, it’s all about the Asian market, and those smaller companies will continue to eat away at Samsung’s and Apple’s market share.

However, with Apple planning to go all in with AI, it’s hard to guess how the market will shift when the next iPhone is released.