Apple Overtook Samsung to Be the Largest Smartphone Brand of 2023

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the smartphone preliminary shipment total reached 328 million units, according to Omdia. This marks an 8.6% increase compared to 4Q22 and highlights 4Q23 as the first quarter to see a significant increase since 2Q21. It is also an 8.6% increase compared to the previous quarter.

This growth signals an end to nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year declines in overall smartphone shipments, a sign that the industry is stabilizing after a period of strong smartphone demand between 4Q20 and 3Q21, followed by supply chain problems in 2022. Every single major OEM recorded year-on-year growth other than Samsung, with Xiaomi, Transsion, and Huawei all having significant growth of more than 20%. Despite this growth, Omdia research shows that the 2023 shipment total is now 1,164.7 million units, a 3.5% fall from the 1,207.2 million total for 2022.

With the launch of the iPhone 15 series, Apple recorded the highest shipment total for 4Q23, with 78.7 million units. This is a 6.5% increase from the previous year and the largest quarter for Apple since 4Q21. Samsung recorded 53.2 million unit shipments in 4Q23, a 9% fall from 4Q22. This means that Samsung is the only major smartphone OEM that has had lower shipments every quarter of 2023 than the same quarter in 2022. This resulting fall indicates that the 2023 total for Samsung is 12.9% lower than 2022 – 225.3 million in 2023 compared to 258.5 million in 2022.

Xiaomi has retained its shipment figures from the previous quarter, recording 41.2 million unit shipments in 4Q23. This is a slight 1.4% dip from the 41.8 million in 3Q23, but a significant 24.1% increase from 4Q22. This is a good sign that Xiaomi is recovering from a sustained period of falling market share, even among a falling overall market.

Transsion Holding has increased its shipments even further to 30.1 million in 4Q23, this is an increase of 11.1% from the previous quarter. This sustained growth over the past year has resulted in 4Q23 figures, a staggering 74% increase from 4Q22.

“The high growth of Transsion Holding in 2023 is mainly due to the following aspects: firstly, solved inventory issues ahead of industry. Secondly, consumer downgrading is caused by global inflation, as the products that Transsion Holding focuses on perfectly match the current needs. Thirdly, the active market expansion strategy that has taken place in 2023 has provided better market conditions for shipping,” said Zaker Li, Omdia Principal Analyst.

Oppo Group recorded 24.4 million shipments in 4Q23, an 8.3% fall from 3Q23. Despite this, it is a 2.8% increase from the 23.7 million in 4Q22. This highlights that Oppo is now recovering its shipment numbers from a period of decline between 2022 and early 2023.

“The smartphone business in 2023 was determined by the products and regional markets each brand focuses on. While Apple, which concentrated on the premium market, recorded relatively good performance despite a decrease in overall market demand, the performance of major Chinese OEMs highly concentrated in the Chinese and Indian markets decreased significantly compared to the previous year due to the impact of the slump in smartphone demand in these two countries. Samsung, which has a high proportion of low- to mid-priced smartphones, also suffered a significant decline in shipments as its sales of mid- to low-priced smartphones were affected by the economic recession across the regions and was forced to give up its first place to Apple,” said Jusy Hong, Senior Research Manager at Omdia.

The smartphone market in 2024 is expected to return to growth compared to last year, but Omdia predicts that it will turn to negative growth in the second half of the year compared to last year due to the economic recovery delay, geopolitical instability, and the growing used phone market.