Samsung pips Apple as the world’s leading smartphone maker: IDC

The South-Korean brand's 20.8% market share in Q1FY24 helped it overtake the American tech giant.

Apple lost its tag as the leading smartphone brand after its shipments dropped 10%, data from research firm IDC reveals.

The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker revealed global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24).

With 60.1 million shipments and a 20% market share, Samsung reclaimed the top spot from Apple whose market share stands at 17.3%.

The slide from the American phone maker comes amid a steep decline in sales after it claimed the top spot in the December quarter from Samsung.

Chinese smartphone maker occupies the third spot with a 14.1% market share.

"While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter. While IDC expects these two companies to maintain their hold on the high end of the market, the resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as notable gains from Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo will likely have both OEMs looking for areas to expand and diversify. As the recovery progresses, we're likely to see the top companies gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "