Apple
has emerged to be the number one smartphone maker in
2023
, as it overtook
Samsung
, thanks to increased
smartphone shipments
across the quarter, leading the market. Not only that, but Apple was the only one among the top three companies to have shown positive growth. The company shipped 80.5 million
iPhone
units in Q4, marking an 11.6 per cent YoY increase, as per data from International Data Corporation (IDC) worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker.
Apple has overtaken Samsung as the leading company in terms of
market share
for global smartphone shipments in 2023, with a 20.1 per cent market share compared to Samsung's 19.4 per cent.
Xiaomi
came in at third position, holding 12.5 per cent market share.
"Apple certainly played a part in Samsung's drop in rank, but the overall Android space is diversifying within itself," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.
"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 with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team. "Not only is Apple the only player in the Top 3 to show positive growth annually, but also bags the number 1 spot annually for the first time ever."
Apple is the only company among the three major smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung and Xiaomi, to grow shipments year-over-year. Apple saw an increase in its shipments from 226.3 million units to 234.6 million units in 2023.
Oppo and Transsion Holding (the owner of Infinix,
Tecno
and itel), secured the next spots with market shares of 8.8 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively. Other brands accounted for 31 per cent of market share.
Based on the data shared by the International Data Corporation (IDC), there was a 3.2 per cent decline in global smartphone shipments in 2023 compared to the previous year. However, the fourth quarter of 2023 saw an encouraging 8.5 per cent year-over-year growth, which indicates a possible recovery in 2024.
English (US) ·