Apple dethrones Samsung to become world's top phone maker

Samsung, whose shipments slumped double-digits to 226.6 million, came in second.

For the first time since 2010, Apple Inc has dethroned Samsung Electronics to become the best-selling smartphone company in 2023. Apple, ranked number one on the list after the iPhone, accounted for a fifth of the global market with close to 235 million shipments last year.

Apple iPhone 15 plus (HT Photo/Vishal Mathur)(HT_PRINT)

Samsung, whose shipments slumped double-digits to 226.6 million, came in second, ahead of Chinese device makers like Xiaomi Corp. This comes despite Apple iPhone's demands hitting a slump in many countries due to availability of cheaper alternatives.

While Apple has dominated the holiday quarter in recent years, its surge ahead of Samsung over a full year is unprecedented and suggests Apple is weathering an industrywide slump better than rivals.

Apple iPhone 15 had a lukewarm reception in China, which is its biggest market in the world, due to the growing popularity of Huawei Technologies Co. in the country. However, Apple managed to expand its base in 2023 through aggressive offers amid rising demand for premium smartphones.

Research firm IDC's director Nabila Popal said, "While we saw some strong growth from low-end Android players like Transsion and Xiaomi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets, the biggest winner is clearly Apple."

Popal further added, "All this despite facing increased regulatory challenges and renewed competition from Huawei in China, its largest market. Apple’s ongoing success and resilience is in large part due to the increasing trend of premium devices, which now represent over 20% of the market.”

How Apple dethroned Samsung

While Apple has been facing a slump in China, the company drove up sales after the shift up the smartphone price chain driven in part by attractive trade-in offers and interest-free financing, according to IDC.

The research firm further said that Apple has been the only firm among the top three to record a global growth of 3.7 percent. However, the company is still not immune to the wider decline in demand.

Apple has been able to dethrone Samsung in the race to the top since the price range of premium smartphones by the latter has been on an exponential rise, while Apple is trying to keep its rates contained over the last two years.

However, the iPhone-maker is facing a decline in China due to heavy competition from local tech powerhouse Huawei, which reclaimed some of the market share it lost after US sanctions by releasing the Mate 60 Pro smartphone running on an advanced made-in-China processor.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)