Apple’s iPhone sales dropped by almost 10% around the world in the first three months of 2024. This was because other companies from China, like Xiaomi and Transsion, sold a lot more phones during this time. A report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shared this information.
In those three months, Apple sold 50.1 million iPhones. This was a decrease of 9.6% compared to the same time last year when they sold 55.4 million iPhones. Among the top five smartphone brands mentioned in the report, Apple had the biggest drop in sales compared to last year.
Samsung, which is another popular type of phone, sold the most phones in the first three months of 2024. They had lost this top spot to Apple last year but got it back this year.
Samsung had a 20.8% share of the market, which means they sold almost the same number of phones as last year, about 60.1 million. Last year, their market share was 22.5%.
Apple, which became the biggest smartphone maker in 2023, saw its market share decrease from 20.7% to 17.3% compared to last year.
Ryan Reith, a leader at IDC, said that although Apple and Samsung will still be popular brands, other companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo are doing better in China and gaining more customers. This means Apple and Samsung might need to find new ways to grow and offer different products.
Xiaomi sold 33.8% more phones in the first three months, reaching 40.8 million units. Transsion, another Chinese company, saw a huge increase of 84.9%, selling 28.5 million units.
Transsion, based in Shenzhen, China, owns brands like Tecno, Itel, and Infinix. It’s now the fifth-largest smartphone maker in the world, according to some reports.
Looking at market share, Xiaomi (14.1%), Transsion (9.9%), and OPPO (8.7%) were third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in terms of the number of phones sold in the first three months of 2024, as per the IDC report.
“Xiaomi is making a strong comeback after facing big drops in sales over the past two years, and Transsion is now a steady presence in the top five, growing quickly in other countries,” said Nabila Popal, a researcher at IDC.
However, shipments of smartphones from the Chinese company OPPO dropped by 8.5% to 25.2 million in the first three months of the year.
The big tech company Huawei and its spinoff, Honor, didn’t make it to the top five list. They were the best-performing smartphone brands in the first six weeks of 2024, according to Counterpoint Research.
Apple has been feeling pressure in China, especially from Huawei, whose business with consumers is getting stronger again after launching its Mate 60 smartphone.
Globally, the total number of smartphones shipped in the first three months of the year went up by 7.8% compared to last year, reaching 289.4 million units. This marks the third quarter in a row where shipments have gone up, according to IDC.
This increase “shows that things are getting better” despite big economic challenges, the research firm explained.
