In the midst of a smartphone sales meltdown, only one manufacturer is escaping the fire: Apple

The mobile phone market remains huge, but its size has shrunk slightly in 2023. That’s according to an annual report published by consulting firm IDC, which shows how global sales have fallen, but not for everyone. There is actually a company that miraculously saved furniture.

Apple sells more than anyone else. The last time a company called Samsung led mobile device sales was in 2010. Since then, the South Korean company has dominated in terms of sales, but its streak ended in 2023 as Apple managed to surpass it to become the manufacturer with the most smartphones sold: 234.6 million compared to Samsung’s 226.6 million. This is something historic and alarming for the Android market for an important reason.

People want more and more premium mobile phones. It seems that mid-range and entry-level models are attracting less and less interest, and users are investing more and more in their mobile devices. Apple and Samsung have a nearly 90% share of the segment, leaving other competitors scrambling for crumbs even as they’ve all signed on to produce increasingly ambitious and expensive terminals. Only Huawei (especially worthy of praise), Xiaomi and Oppo achieve some significance.

Cupertino is off to a good start. Already at the beginning of 2023, a clear trend was visible in the smartphone market. One in which Apple led in sales and continued to grow while its competitors slowed down. The popularity of the iPhone has skyrocketed again, with the Cupertino company placing eight mobile phones in the top ten bestsellers.

Global sales decline, but there is optimism. The market has long shown signs of saturation, with 2023 marking the worst year for global sales in a decade. The 3.2% drop, according to IDC, is due to macroeconomic problems and too high inventories at the beginning of the year. However, they say that there will be a recovery in 2024. This has already been seen in the last quarter of 2023, in which 8.5% more terminals were sold compared to the same period in 2022, when growth of 7.3% was expected.

Transmission of infection? Who is Transsion? The surprise of the year was Transsion, an entry-level terminal manufacturer with exceptional success in Africa, where it has a 40% share of sales of devices with at least four SIM cards. Another key to their devices: they pay special attention to the accuracy of capturing faces with darker skin tones.

Xiaomi is regaining its position. Samsung sold 13.6% less in 2023 than in 2022 and also fell 10.9% in the final quarter of the year, which appears to be jeopardizing its position this year compared to its other great rival: Xiaomi. The Chinese manufacturer sold 4.7% less in 2023, but sales rose an encouraging 22.7% in the final quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022. This appears to signal a marked recovery for a rival that is dangerously close to Samsung’s market share (12.5% ​​vs. 19.4%), especially if Samsung continues to lose whole numbers.

Image | Amanz

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