For the past 13 years, Samsung has always been at the top of the world‘s smartphone manufacturers. But in 2023, for the first time, the Korean company was overtaken by Apple, with 234.6 million smartphones shipped to retailers versus Samsung’s 226.6 million. But above all, Apple was the only major manufacturer to record growth in the number of units, with an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the previous year. The data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, reported by the Financial Times, are preliminary and subject to change, but are also confirmed by another major financial analysis agency, Canalys.
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Apple’s growth comes in a year that was the worst in a decade for the smartphone market, with device shipments falling 3.2 percent to 1.17 billion units, according to IDC. Measured in terms of revenue and profit, Apple has long been the leading smartphone maker thanks to the iPhone’s dominance at the high-end market. But last year was the first in which it also led in terms of volume.
Samsung, which will launch its flagship Galaxy S24 model tomorrow, reported a 13.6 percent drop in shipments last year as Huawei regained share in China and makers of cheaper Android phones posted higher growth. In particular, China’s Transsion – whose Tecno, Infinix and Itel brands are very popular in Africa – grew by 30.8 percent last year, placing it in the top five behind Xiaomi and Oppo. “In 2023, Samsung focused on the mid-to-high-end segment in terms of profitability, but lost share in the low-end segment and also its leading position in the global market,” said Amber Liu, group manager of Canalys research found that smartphone shipments increased about 8 percent year over year in the fourth quarter, reversing a decline of seven consecutive quarters, thanks to improved demand from shoppers during the holidays.
The last time Samsung was in second place among smartphone manufacturers, in 2010, Nokia was at the top of the list, LG Electronics was in third place, ZTE was in fourth place and RIM (makers of BlackBerry) was in fifth place. Apple didn’t figure at all, even though the iPhone had been presented three years earlier.