For the first time ever, Apple has unseated Samsung—and all other smartphone manufacturers—to lead in worldwide smartphone shipments. In 2023, Apple shipped 234.6 million iPhones, capturing 20.1% market share and growing 3.7% year over year, according to IDC data. Samsung had led global smartphone unit sales for 13 years, since 2010.
Every other top smartphone manufacturer failed to grow in 2023.
“The biggest winner is clearly Apple,” IDC research director Nabila Popal said in a statement. “Not only is Apple the only player in the top three to show positive growth annually, but also bags the number one spot annually for the first time ever.”
Apple achieved this despite facing increased regulatory challenges, Popal said, plus increased competition both in China—Apple’s largest market—and globally. Aggressive trade-in offers and interest-free financing helped Apple grow, he added.
The top five global smartphone makers now are:
- Apple: 234.6 million smartphones shipped
- Samsung: 226.6 million smartphones shipped
- Xiaomi: 145.9 million smartphones shipped
- OPPO: 103.1 million smartphones shipped
- Transsion: 94.9 million smartphones shipped
It’s worth noting that Apple is the only American phone manufacturer on the list. Samsung is Korean, and the rest of the smartphone makers are based in China.
While Apple grew 3.7%, the overall smartphone market shrank. Global shipments dropped 3.2% to 1.17 billion units in 2023, IDC says. Samsung went down 13.6%, Xiaomi dropped 4.7%, and OPPO declined 9.9%. Only Transsion, a relative newcomer to the power rankings of top smartphone makers, had significant growth at 30.8%. Transsion focuses on affordable and market-specific phones for Africa, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Apple has often led the smartphone industry in value creation and capture, but this is the first time the maker of some of the most expensive phones on the market also captured the highest percentage of global unit sales share.
The shakeup signals a renewed competition in mobile, IDC says.
“Apple certainly played a part in Samsung’s drop in rank, but the overall Android space is diversifying within itself,” IDC VP Ryan Reith said in a statement. “Huawei is back and making inroads quickly within China. Brands like OnePlus, Honor, Google, and others are launching very competitive devices in the lower price range of the high end. And foldables and increased discussions around AI capabilities on the smartphone are gaining traction.”
While smartphone shipments were down in the entire calendar year 2023, sales did perk up in the fourth quarter. Q4 saw 326.1 million units shipped and 8.5% year-over-year growth, signaling that 2024 could be a better year.
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