(San Francisco) Apple has overtaken Samsung in smartphone sales in 2023 according to specialist research firm IDC, which sees “a change of power at the top of the largest consumer electronics market”.
“The last time a company other than Samsung held first place in the smartphone market was in 2010,” the experts point out in a press release published Monday.
The Californian group sold more than 234 million iPhones last year, or 20.1% of the global market, according to IDC.
This is the first time that it has held the largest share of this market, and it is “the only player in the Top 3 to show positive annual growth”, of 3.7%, notes Nabila Popal, research director.
The Apple brand, however, faced “increased regulatory challenges and renewed competition from Huawei in China, its largest market,” she adds. “Apple’s continued success and resilience are largely due to the growing trend toward premium devices, which now represent more than 20% of the market, aggressive trade-in offers for older models, and financing plans at zero rate.
Samsung therefore comes in second position, with more than 226 million devices sold (-13.6%) and 19.4% of the pie.
The South Korean giant is due to present new smartphones powered by artificial intelligence (AI) on Wednesday in San Jose, the heart of the American Silicon Valley, a very trendy subject which is yet rarely discussed by Apple during its conferences.
Competition in the smartphone market is “intense”, for Ryan Reith, vice president of IDC’s department dedicated to this market.
“Apple certainly played a role in Samsung’s decline, but the Android space as a whole is diversifying. Huawei is back and making rapid inroads in China, brands like OnePlus, Honor, Google and others are launching very competitive devices in the lower price range of the high end,” he analyzes.
The American group stood out in an unfavorable context: global sales of smartphones decreased by 3.2% in 2023, to 1.17 billion units, the “lowest annual volume in a decade, due in largely to macroeconomic challenges,” explains IDC.
The firm nevertheless expects a recovery in 2024, with already growth of 8.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023.