IDC: Smartphone Sales Up 7.8 Percent in Q1, Samsung Overtakes Apple

The market researchers at IDC delivered some good news for the smartphone industry, with sales rising 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 289.4 million units.

“Smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” IDC group vice president Ryan Reith said. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter.”

This is the third consecutive quarter of unit sales growth, so the smartphone market is coming out of its post-pandemic fog more quickly than the PC market: IDC recently reported that PC sales grew 1.5 percent in the same quarter.

As noted, Samsung is once again the world’s biggest smartphone maker, at least according to IDC, with 20.8 percent market share. That said, Samsung’s unit sales were flat, falling a tiny bit year-year-year (YOY) from 60.5 million units to 60.1 million. Apple experienced an even bigger drop, explaining its number two finish: The firm sold 50.1 million iPhones in the quarter, down almost 10 percent from the 55.4 million it sold one year ago, with 17.3 percent market share.

Given those numbers, it’s perhaps not surprising that all the growth in the quarter came from two Chinese giants. Xiaomi saw sales rise 33.8 percent to 40.8 million units and 14.1 percent market share. And Transsion exploded by 85 percent to 28.5 million units and 9.9 percent market share. OPPO landed at number 5 with 25.2 million units and 8.7 percent market share, but its sales fell 7.2 percent YOY.

IDC said that as the recovery progresses, it expects Samsung and Apple to “maintain their hold on the high end of the market,” and that “the top companies will likely gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning.”