2024 Initial Smartphone Shipments Reveal Industry Recovery

According to the latest Omdia survey for 1Q24, smartphone shipments totaled 300.4 million units. This represents an 11.6% increase compared to 1Q23, marking the second consecutive quarter of year-on-year increase after a prolonged period of market stagnation and decline from 2Q21 to 4Q23.

The increase in overall smartphone shipments suggests that the industry is stabilizing after a period of turbulence: initially with strong smartphone demand between 4Q20 and 3Q21 followed by supply chain problems in 2022. Many OEMs recorded large double-digit year-on-year growth, including Xiaomi, Honor, Motorola, and Realme, with Transsion and Huawei seeing triple-digit growth. Both Apple and OPPO saw a year-on-year decline.

Samsung recorded the most shipments of any OEM in 1Q24, with 60.4 million units. With the launch of the latest S24 series flagship phones including Galaxy AI features there has been a robust growth of 13.5% from 4Q23. But, compared to 1Q23 and the launch of the S23, it is just a 0.2% increase year-on-year. Demand for mid to low-priced smartphones, which account for a large portion of Samsung's total smartphone shipments, is recovering, but overall shipments have remained at a similar level to last year due to intensifying competition with Chinese companies.

After the surge in Apple shipments in 4Q23, following the launch of the iPhone 15 series, Apple’s 1Q24 total has decreased to 50.7 million units – marking a decline compared to the previous year. The decrease can be attributed to delayed production and shipments from 4Q22 to 1Q23, resulting in higher-than-usual shipment totals. Given the successful performance in 4Q23 for Apple, a decline in 1Q24 should not be unexpected or alarming.

Xiaomi shipment figures have fallen marginally from the previous quarter; with 40.8-million-unit shipments in 1Q24. This is a slight 1% dip from the 41.2 million in 4Q23, which was also a slight fall from the 41.8 million in 3Q23. But it is still a notable 33.8% increase year-on-year, from 1Q23. Despite the reducing quarter-on-quarter shipment figures, Xiaomi still shows signs that it is recovering. This trend follows a prolonged period of declining market share, even amidst an overall decrease in the smartphone market.

Transsion’s shipments have fallen slightly following successive quarters of growth, from 30.1 million in 4Q23 to 27.5 million in 1Q24, an 8.6% fall. But, as this is only a slight decline after a period of very strong growth, Transsion is still in triple-digit growth compared to one year ago, where it recorded 13 million shipments in 1Q23. Transsion’s shipments have more-than-doubled over the past year, propelling it to go from the sixth largest to the fourth largest OEM. It has overtaken both vivo and Oppo, now leading them by 2.5 million units per quarter.

“The most noticeable trend in the smartphone market is the polarization of smartphones to low-end and premium smartphones. This has disproportionately benefited Apple and Huawei, while brands focusing on mid-priced phones, such as Samsung, Oppo, and Realme have faced challenges. As we move through 2024, the global market is expected to grow year-on-year, particularly in the first half. However these dynamics will persist in determining which OEMs will benefit the most from this growth,” said Jusy Hong, Senior Research Manager in Omdia’s Smartphone group.