Apple overtakes Samsung as largest smartphone seller

Jan 17 (Reuters) – Apple ended Samsung Electronics’ 12-year streak as the world’s largest smartphone seller, reaching 20% ​​market share in 2023, according to International Data Corp.

Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, according to preliminary data from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. It is followed by Chinese Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion.

The ranking change comes after a difficult year during which consumers were slow to upgrade their smartphones due to general macroeconomic uncertainty and high inflation.

Overall phone sales were also hit by a slower-than-expected recovery in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.

Apple and Transsion were the only top five brands to record shipment growth last year, while the market fell 3.2% to 1.17 billion units and hit a record low in a decade.

Apple, however, faces pressure in China from a resurgent Huawei as well as budget Chinese brands. The iPhone maker is offering unusual discounts of up to 5% on select models in the country to attract customers.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing in Spanish by Benjamin Mejias Valencia)