We already crossed the first quarter of 2024, and the results are fortunate for the tech industry since the global smartphone market grew by six percent.
If the reports are to be believed, the global smartphone market seems to be rebounding, with Android smartphones particularly finding success in the first quarter of the year. Comprehensively, the market grew by six percent year-over-year regardless of Apple shipping only a few iPhones last quarter as compared to Q1 2023, and that appears due to the great success of Samsung Galaxy phones.
Samsung is typically the top smartphone manufacturer in terms of sales, but things appeared to have changed over the months of 2023 since it later lost that title to Apple in Q4 2023. However, as Apple posted a 13% decline in shipments in the first quarter of 2024, Samsung took it as a golden opportunity and was able to recapture the leading position. Samsung devices made up 20% of the total smartphones shipped last quarter, whereas iPhones accounted for only 17%.
In the premium smartphone market, phones above $800 grew the fastest in Q1 2024. This benefited Apple the most, probably because customers are choosing the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max models. Furthermore, Apple maintained its position as the smartphone revenue leader, with a 43% share of the market. The success of select brands in regions outside of North America, such as TECNO, Xiaomi, Honor, and Huawei, partially explains the entire growth. Of the top five OEMs, Xiaomi grew the most last quarter, improving shipments by 34%.
It is expected that the trend of strong growth in the premium smartphone market will continue. This is driven by the arrival of new phones with generative AI capabilities. Analysts are predicting that at least 11% of smartphones shipped in 2024 will have generative AI. However, Apple has yet to join the generative AI list.
