© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The iPhone 15 Pro is unveiled during the 'Wonderlust' event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S., September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
(Reuters) -Apple ended Samsung Electronics' (KS:) 12-year run as the world's largest smartphone seller, after commanding a 20% market share in 2023, according to a report from International Data Corp. .
Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, followed by China's Xiaomi (OTC:), Oppo and Transsion, preliminary data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.
The change in ranking comes after a difficult year in which consumers were slow to upgrade their smartphones and chose cheaper phones due to high inflation and economic uncertainties.
A slower-than-expected recovery in China, the world's largest smartphone market, also affected overall phone sales.
Apple (NASDAQ and Transsion, which sells the Tecno, Infinix and itel brands, were the only two of the top five smartphone vendors to post sales growth last year, even though the overall market declined by 3. 2% to 1.17 billion units and reached a decade low.
“While we saw 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,” said Nabila Popal, head of research. from IDC's Worldwide Tracker. equipment.
Samsung phone shipments fell 13.6%, while iPhone shipments rose 3.7% last year, according to IDC data.
Samsung focused on the mid- and high-end segment for profitability, but lost share in the low-end segment, said Amber Liu of research firm Canalys.
Apple, however, faces pressure in China from a resurgent Huawei as well as low-cost Chinese brands. The iPhone maker offers discounts of up to 5% on some models in the country to attract customers.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:) surpassed Apple on Friday as the world's most valuable public company, as Wall Street became more concerned about demand for its iPhones and other high-end devices.
