For the first time ever, the iPhone led the world in this category for an entire year،
After calculating the figures for the fourth quarter of 2023,
Canalys reports that the global smartphone market showed 8% year-over-year growth, with 319.5 million units shipped from October to December. For the full year, 1.14 billion smartphones were shipped, a 4% decrease from 2022. Apple was not only the top manufacturer in the fourth quarter, but it was also the leader for the whole year for the very first time.
Apple became the top smartphone maker for the first time in 2023
It's hard to believe that Apple had never dominated this category before last year, but the Cupertino gang finally overtook
Samsung, ending a long dynasty for the Korean manufacturer. Let's start with the fourth quarter in which Apple shipped 78.1 million
iPhone handsets, up 7% from the fourth quarter of last year. Because the fourth quarter of 2023 was so strong, even with iPhone shipments increasing on a year-over-year basis, Apple saw its market share decline from 25% to 24%. Still, this made the iPhone the most popular phone in the world in the last three months of 2023.
The iPhone wore the crown during the fourth quarter of 2023
Samsung had a tough quarter as its fans awaited the January unveiling of its new Galaxy
S24 lineup powered by Galaxy AI. For the quarter, Sammy shipped 53.5 million phones, a decline of 8%. The company's market share fell three points, from 20% to 17%. Xiaomi had a strong fourth quarter, with shipments up 23% to 41 million units, giving it a 13% share of the global smartphone pie, up two points from the fourth quarter of the previous year.
TRANSSION Holdings was next, with the fast-growing Chinese manufacturer seeing shipments increase 65% on an annual basis to 28.5 million. The company now holds 9% of the global smartphone market, up from 6% in the same quarter in 2022. And in fifth place is Vivo, which shipped the same number of phones (23.9 million) in the fourth quarter 2023. during the last quarter of 2022. However, vivo's market share increased from 8% to 7%.
For all of 2023, Apple shipped 229.3 million iPhones, a decrease of 1%. But because that was better than the 4% decline for the overall market in 2023, the iPhone's market share globally increased from 19% in 2022 to 20%. Samsung fell from number one in 2022 to number two in 2023 thanks to a 13% decline. in shipments for the year. The company shipped 225.4 million phones, about four million fewer than Apple, and its market share fell from 22% to 20%.
Xiaomi was third with 2023 shipments amounting to 146.4 million units, a decline of 4%. Xiaomi had a 13% share of the global smartphone pie last year. After shipping 100.7 million smartphones for 2023, 11% less than the number shipped in 2022,
Oppo was next and held 9% of the global smartphone market. And that leaves TRANSSION Holdings rounding out the top five.
TRANSSION was the only manufacturer in the top five to show a year-over-year increase in shipments (27% to be precise), and the 92.6 million phones shipped during the year worth 8% of the market, up 33% from the 6% it held in 2022.
AI will become a major differentiator between smartphone brands
Toby Zhu, principal analyst at Canalys, says two letters will guide smartphone makers in 2024. “Investing in in-device AI for the high-end segment and increasing shipments in the mid- and low-end segments will become two directions strategic. for smartphone vendors in 2024. AI will extend from product-level differentiation to operational and corporate strategy, varying by company.
For the first time, Apple is the leading smartphone maker for a full year
Zhu adds: “Samsung will integrate generative AI into its long-term product strategy. At the same time, Chinese vendors such as Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO and HONOR have already launched flagship devices with generation AI capabilities in their domestic markets. Apple is expected to add AI features to the iPhone and Siri when it releases iOS 18 later this year, although iPhone users may have to wait until the iPhone 17 receives major AI features on the device.
