Samsung surpasses Apple in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2024.

The difference is almost 10 million pieces.

The analytical agency Counterpoint assessed the smartphone market based on the results of the first quarter of 2024. An important result of this period was the return of Samsung to the leadership in the number of phones sold. In addition, analysts note that the overall global smartphone market grew by 6% year-on-year. 296.9 million units were sold.

The share of Samsung phones in the first quarter was 20% or 59.4 million units. While Apple's sales decreased by 13% year on year. In the first three months of this year, 50.5 million iPhones were sold. It is curious that at the same time, Apple achieved a record level of profit due to increased sales of expensive Pro versions. The best-selling model among all phones was the iPhone 15 Pro Max with a share of 4.4%. By comparison, the base iPhone 14 led the pack in the first quarter of 2023.

Among the top five smartphone makers, Xiaomi posted the biggest year-over-year growth. The number of sales increased by 34% compared to the first quarter of 2023. With 41.6 million phones, the Chinese giant ranks firmly in third place in the last reporting period.

If we talk about the income of all market participants, then based on the results of all the first quarters taken into account, they became a record and showed an increase of 7% year on year.

Let us recall that during the first three quarters of 2023, Samsung also held a leading position in the smartphone market. Apple made a sharp leap in the fourth quarter, when its share reached 23%, while for the South Korean giant it fell to 16%. However, a similar picture was observed in 2022: then, in the fourth quarter, Apple’s share jumped from 16% to 24%.

In absolute terms, Samsung's performance looks more stable. Sales fluctuate from quarter to quarter between 54 and 64 million units. While Apple has a clear seasonality: at the end of the year, sales reach 74 million smartphones, and at the minimum point - 46 million units per quarter. Everything is explained by the traditional autumn announcement of the new generation iPhone.