What you must know
- Smartphone gross sales noticed total progress of 4% year-on-year after a decline prior to now two years.
- Whereas Samsung and Apple proceed to take care of their spots within the prime 5 (first and second), their total gross sales fell.
- Xiaomi reigned because the quickest rising smartphone model on account of portfolio realignment and aggressive growth.
- Huawei, HONOR and Motorola have been among the many quickest rising OEMs among the many prime 10 manufacturers.
Smartphone gross sales have lastly soared after two years of decline. Based on a current report Based on Counterpoint, smartphone gross sales grew by 4% year-on-year (33%) in 2024 in comparison with the earlier yr.
As for what brought on the sudden change in numbers, Tarun Pathak, analysis director at Counterpoint Analysis, contributed to total financial progress in Europe, China and Latin America, which means extra folks may afford to purchase new telephones.
“The smartphone market began displaying indicators of restoration from This fall 2023 and has now grown for 5 consecutive quarters,” Pathak added within the report.
Xiaomi, though coming in third, took the lead because the fastest-growing smartphone model within the prime 5 in 2024, with an total progress of 12% in comparison with the earlier yr. The report acknowledged that this progress was solely because of the firm’s “portfolio realignment, premium momentum and aggressive growth actions.”
As for Samsung, the corporate noticed a 1% drop in its total gross sales however continued to guide (19% of whole gross sales) the market in 2024. Samsung managed to remain on prime because of the rising demand for its S24 Collectionparticularly in the US and Western Europe. Partially it was as a result of the S24 was the corporate’s first flagship to come back with Galaxy AIincorporating a number of latest capabilities, serving to it “outperform its predecessors.” It stays to be seen how a lot Galaxy S25 collection may increase Samsung’s gross sales this yr.
In second place is Apple, with 18% of the share coming from Apple’s iPhone 16 collection. The report additional added that this collection generated blended reactions on account of Apple’s lack of intelligence within the launch. Nonetheless, it noticed sufficient progress in secondary markets resembling Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific to take second place.
OPPO was in fourth place, with a year-on-year drop of 8%, and Vivo, though in fifth place, ended the yr on a excessive be aware because the top-ranked OEM in India and China. Huawei, HONOR and Motorola have been among the many quickest rising OEMs among the many prime 10 manufacturers.
Final yr additionally noticed the launch of extra generative AI (Gen AI) in smartphones, restricted primarily to high-end telephones. Nonetheless, Counterpoint Analysis predicts that by 2028, 9 out of 10 smartphones over $250 (mid-range) may have Gen AI built-in.
As for what the market may seem like in 2025, the report says that regardless that the numbers could by no means match pre-pandemic occasions, “income progress will proceed to outpace quantity progress, with progress YoY of 8%, in comparison with quantity progress of 4%.”