However, it is the smallest decline since the fourth quarter of 2021. Apple is benefiting more from the market recovery than Samsung.
Smartphone sales in Europe also fell in the fourth quarter of 2023. Loud Counterpoint However, the market showed the first signs of recovery in the December quarter, as at 3 percent the decline compared to the same period last year was in single digits for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021.
The market researchers attribute the positive development to, among other things, improved macroeconomic conditions. Demand was also boosted by new product launches in the last three months of last year – above all Apple’s new generation of smartphones, the iPhone 15.
“The worst appears to be over for the European smartphone market as it recorded a single-digit decline for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021,” said Harshit Rastogi, research analyst at Counterpoint. “While Western Europe recorded a decline of 5 percent year-on-year, the market in Central and Eastern Europe increased by 2 percent year-on-year. Some countries are recovering from their lowest quarterly numbers, including key markets such as the UK and Russia, which both grew 6 percent year-on-year.”
However, not all manufacturers benefited equally from the market recovery. For Samsung and Apple, market researchers registered the lowest sales figures in a fourth quarter since 2025. Apple still achieved its highest market share to date in a December quarter. While Samsung’s sales figures fell by 10 percent, Apple only lost one percent compared to the same period last year.
Counterpoint also assumes that Xiaomi was able to take market share from Samsung in the mid-price segment. The Chinese company was able to grow primarily in Central and Eastern Europe.