Apple overtakes Samsung to become world’s top smartphone maker

Apple’s iPhone toppled Samsung’s devices to take the crown for the world’s best-selling smartphone in 2023, marking the first time that the South Korean company has lost the top spot since 2010.
Apple recorded 234.6 million iPhone shipments in 2023, accounting for 20.1 per cent of the global market, with an annual growth of 3.7 per cent, according to the latest preliminary data from research company International Data Corporation.
Samsung’s smartphone shipments slumped 13.6 per cent to 226.6 million, a market share of 19.4 per cent, IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.
China’s Xiaomi was third with 145.9 million shipments, accounting for a market share of 12.5 per cent.
“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,” said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team.
“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 per cent of the market, fuelled by aggressive trade-in offers and interest-free financing plans.”