"Galaxy S24 Effect Hits Hard"... Samsung Surpasses Apple in Q1 Market Share

IDC Smartphone Market Survey Results Announced
Regains 1st Place with 20.8% Market Share

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Samsung Electronics surpassed Apple by recording a market share of over 20% in the global smartphone market in the first quarter of this year.

According to market research firm IDC on the 15th, Samsung Electronics' smartphone shipments in the first quarter were tentatively estimated at 60.1 million units, capturing a 20.8% market share.

Apple shipped 50.1 million units, accounting for 17.3%, relinquishing its position as the world's top smartphone shipper held in the fourth quarter of last year. In Q4 last year, Apple had a 24.7% share, while Samsung Electronics had 16.3%.

Top 5 Global Smartphone Shipments by Recent Quarters [Image Source=IDC Report Capture, Yonhap News]

Notably, the gap between Samsung Electronics and Apple in the first quarter of this year widened to 3.5 percentage points, nearly double the 1.8 percentage points in Q1 last year (Samsung Electronics 22.5%, Apple 20.7%).

Recently, Samsung Electronics benefited from favorable factors such as strong sales performance of the Galaxy S24 series launched at the end of January and the popularity of Galaxy AI (artificial intelligence), while Apple faced consecutive setbacks including sluggish performance in the Chinese market and antitrust lawsuits filed by the U.S. government.

Apple's smartphone shipments in the first quarter decreased by 9.6% compared to Q1 last year, a much larger decline than Samsung Electronics' -0.7%.

Following Samsung Electronics and Apple, Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi (14.1%), Transsion (9.9%), and Oppo (8.7%) ranked third to fifth respectively.

Nabila Popal, Research Director at IDC, said, "There has been a shift in the dynamics among the top 5 companies, and it seems this trend will continue for the time being. While Xiaomi and Transsion have grown rapidly, the two giants (Samsung Electronics and Apple) recorded negative growth; however, Samsung Electronics appears to have secured a stronger position than in previous quarters."

The total smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year were 289.4 million units, showing a 7.8% growth compared to Q1 last year. IDC evaluated this as an indicator that the smartphone market, which had been sluggish for the past two years, is continuing its recovery with three consecutive quarters of growth.