Smartphone Market Starts 2024 With 11 Percent Growth in Q1
According to Canalys’ latest research, worldwide smartphone shipments grew 11% year on year in the first quarter of 2024.
Global smartphone shipments fell to 287 million units in the second quarter of 2022, according to Canalys. This is the lowest quarterly figure since 2Q20 when the pandemic first hit.
Samsung led the market with 61.8 million smartphones shipped and a 21% market share. Despite the weak seasonality, Apple held on to second place, shipping 49.5 million iPhones for a 17% market share. Xiaomi stayed in third place with 39.6 million units, while OPPO and vivo completed the top five with 27.3 and 25.4 million units, respectively.
“The global smartphone market is suffering the second period of falling shipments after a brief recovery in 2021, and the sudden drop in demand is hitting the leading vendors,“ said Canalys Research Analyst Runar Bjørhovde. “Despite 6% annual growth, Samsung’s shipments fell 16% on the previous quarter as the vendor struggled with unhealthy inventory levels, especially in the mid-range. Meanwhile, solid demand for the iPhone 13 series in North America, China, and Europe enabled Apple to grow despite the headwinds. The high end has proven relatively resilient during the recession, while promotions and financing options have helped with affordability.“
“The major Chinese vendors managed to stabilize their worldwide performance compared with last quarter despite another round of double-digit year-on-year contractions,“ said Toby Zhu, Canalys Analyst. “Supply chain shortages are no longer the most pressing issue as component orders are being cut rapidly and suppliers have started to be concerned about oversupply. It has resulted in price cuts for key components, which reduces costs for vendors. There will be increasing tensions throughout the entire smartphone supply chain as demand weakness will likely continue for an extended period.“