Samsung Beats Its Arch-Rival Apple In Global Smartphone Shipments For Q2 2024, But Both Giants Are Witnessing A Drop In Market Share

The Q4 2023 period was the only time Apple surpassed Samsung and became the largest smartphone brand in the world, but for the previous two quarters, the California-based giant has suffered dwindling shipments, whereas its rival has secured the first position. On this occasion, the latest data reveals a similar story, but new figures show that both technology giants are losing valuable ground to other competitors, which is not a great look as two more quarters remain in the year.

Global smartphone shipments increased by 12 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, but Samsung and Apple witnessed a drop in market share

The latest data published by Canalys reveals that global smartphone shipments were 12 percent higher year-on-year, with Samsung leading from the front with an 18 percent market share, followed by Apple with 16 percent. However, the figures from the leading analyst firm state that both companies have lost market share compared to the same period a year ago, where Samsung was number one with 21 percent, and Apple stood at 17 percent. Just previously, we reported that Apple dropped out of the top five smartphone vendors in China, coming in sixth position.

As competition picks up the pace in the world’s largest smartphone market by volume, both Apple and Samsung continue to lose ground to local brands, with Huawei also playing a pivotal role as its resurgence has caused more than a headache to the leading two players in this region. Fortunately, the Cupertino firm switched to a strategy that it rarely followed, introducing discounts of up to $318, which allowed it to increase iPhone shipments by 40 percent year-over-year in the month of May.

Companies like Vivo and Xiaomi gained ground in Q 2024, increasing their market share to 9 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Samsung displayed incredible resistance, and for the last two quarters, the Korean giant has mounted a comeback of legendary proportions, with one of the many contributions coming from the Galaxy S24 series. Sheng Win Chow, Analyst at Canalys, believes that the new AI capabilities of Samsung’s latest handsets offered differentiation to customers and resulted in a higher number of purchases.

“Samsung recently launched its Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6 series, building on the AI capabilities first introduced with the Galaxy S24 to deliver enhanced experiences on its latest foldable devices. By integrating software innovation with the foldable form factor, Samsung aims to provide differentiated value to users. While Apple has yet to announce new products, the company generated excitement at WWDC around anticipated refreshes coming soon that will likely demonstrate its leadership in technology innovation.”

As for Apple, it is probably pinning its hopes on the upcoming iPhone 16 to make up for its lost market share, with the company reportedly having ordered suppliers to prepare 90 million units for 2024 alone, making it 10 percent higher than the iPhone 15. Unfortunately, Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of generative AI features, will not arrive with the iOS 18 release, with a fresh report claiming that it will arrive with iOS 18.1. While this delay does not necessarily mean that customers will not be willing to upgrade, those purchases may come at a later, negatively reflecting Apple’s revenue sheet for that quarter.

News Source: Canalys