Samsung regained its position as the global smartphone market leader in the last quarter, pushing Apple into second place. According to the analysis firm IDC, Samsung achieved a market share of just under 21 percent, while Apple came in at 17.3 percent. Chinese manufacturer Transsion made the biggest leap forward, securing about 10 percent of the market with impressive growth of 85 percent, which put it in fourth place.
Samsung was still behind Apple in the Christmas quarter, but the release of the new Galaxy S24 model helped it regain its position in the first quarter. Although Samsung's sales declined 0.7 percent year-on-year, it sold a total of 60.1 million devices. Apple sold 50.1 million iPhones during the same period, representing a decline of 9.6 percent, possibly influenced by high demand during the previous Christmas season, which was caused by production delays during the coronavirus lockdowns in China.
Despite an earlier period of weakness in the market, the industry as a whole recorded growth of 7.8 percent, resulting in total sales of 289.4 million devices. Xiaomi and Oppo, both Chinese manufacturers, ranked third and fifth with market shares of around 14 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. While Xiaomi increased its sales by a third, Oppo recorded an 8.5 percent decline compared to the previous year.