Key Takeaways
- Samsung shipped 18% of the world’s smartphones in Q3, barely holding onto its top spot against iPhones, which also accounted for 18% of shipments.
- The new iPhone 16 lineup helped Apple ship more devices, while the Galaxy S24 series is thought to have slowed down in Q3 2024.
- Xiaomi remained the third-largest smartphone maker with 14% market share, while Oppo claimed fourth with 9%, and Vivo rounded out the top five, also holding 9%.
Samsung has been having a tough time keeping its crown as the world’s biggest smartphone maker, a title it snagged from Nokia over ten years ago. In 2023, Apple managed to knock Samsung off its perch, even with a 3.2% drop in shipments. But Samsung fought back and took the top spot again in the first quarter of 2024, though it was by a pretty slim margin. Now, with the Q3 sales figures out, Samsung is still leading the pack, but the gap between its sales and Apple’s is smaller than ever.
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According to Canalys, Samsung shipped 18% of smartphones in Q3, barely holding onto its top spot against Apple, which also accounted for 18% of shipments (via GSMArena). In the same quarter last year, Samsung had a 21% market share while Apple was at 17%. The new iPhone 16 series seems to have given Apple a boost in 2024.
Canalys pointed out that Apple hit its highest third-quarter volume ever and has never been closer to taking the lead in the global smartphone market for Q3 than it is now. The company is riding the wave of the market’s shift toward premium devices, which is happening alongside a refresh cycle for gadgets that people bought during the pandemic.
Source: Canalys
On Samsung’s side, its premium Galaxy S models launch at the beginning of the year, but their popularity tends to slow down in the last two quarters. For reference, in Q1 2024, Samsung shipped 19.64 million units, beating Apple’s 17.51 million units sold.
Overall smartphone shipments grew by 5%
The smartphone market is looking pretty good in Q3 2024. Global smartphone shipments grew by 5% year over year, marking the fourth straight quarter of growth. Besides Apple and Samsung, Android brands like Xiaomi and Vivo also made it into the top five.
Xiaomi grabbed 14% of the market share, keeping its spot as the third-largest smartphone maker. Oppo claimed the fourth position on the list for the first time this year with a 9% market share. Rounding out the top five, Vivo boosted its shipments by double digits, also holding 9% of the market.
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