Apple had a brief period of victory last year when it snatched the top spot from Samsung, which had been sitting on it for 12 years. Samsung regained the position in the first quarter of 2024 and will likely hold on to it for the rest of the year.
This was the third straight quarter of growth and indicated that the market was on the road to recovery.
Apple lost 10 percent market share during the first three months of the year whereas Samsung saw of decline of under one percent.
Chinese companies Xiaomi and Transsion were the biggest winners, with year-over-year growth of 33.8 percent and 84.9 percent, respectively.
Here’s what the market share leaderboard looked like at the end of Q1 2024:
- Samsung (20.8 percent)
- Apple (17.3 percent)
- Xiaomi (14.1 percent)
- Transsion (9.9percent)
- OPPO (8.7 percent)
Apple’s dismal performance in the past quarter can be chalked down to falling demand in China, which is the second-largest market for the company.
Apple’s current offerings don’t have the kind of artificial intelligence features that others like Samsung have brought to their phones. The company is expected to talk about its efforts in the area at the June developer conference.
Overall, the smartphone will continue its recovery this year, helped greatly by AI. IDC believes that ‘Samsung is in good position to grow further this year.’