Samsung has been a consistent front-row competitor in the global smartphone market. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung held a global smartphone market share of 15.6 percent. Samsung’s smartphone market shareThe smartphone market has fluctuated considerably since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost 50 percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, but the company’s market presence dropped to around three percent in 2013. Apple and Samsung have remained among the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009. Samsung’s Galaxy, first released in 2009, is their main line of smartphone products, while Apple heavily invests in the iPhone, a primary source of revenue for the company. Samsung’s smartphone market share increased significantly in a span of three years, going from three percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 32.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012. None of its competitors have experienced a similar growth. As the overall smartphone market also grew, Samsung was able to maintain its position as the global market leader. In 2024 alone, the Korean electronics giant shipped around 223.5 million smartphones worldwide, and accounted for 19.4 percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

As of 2023, for the first time ever, Apple ranked as the market leader in the global smartphone market with a 20.1 percent share of all shipments. The tech giant retained the top title in 2024, with a share of nearly 19 percent of the global smartphone market. Samsung ranked second, holding 18 percent of the market share. Global smartphone market shareSamsung has seen its popularity steadily increase since it held just a 4.3 percent of the smartphone vendor market at the beginning of 2010. Samsung’s share of the overall mobile phone market, has fluctuated in recent times, dropping to under 20 percent in the most recent year. Apple became smartphone market leader based on shipments in 2023. Apple’s smartphone sales are relatively cyclical and peak in the fourth quarter each year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, 23 percent of all smartphones new smartphones sold were iPhones. The iPhone generated considerable revenue for Apple with sales of the device amounting to over 200 billion U.S. dollars in their 2024 financial year.

Apple held the largest slice of the global smartphone market by shipments during the fourth quarter of 2024, followed by Samsung. Xiaomi has taken a tight grip on the third position, accounting for a market share of 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. Samsung and Apple smartphone sales Smartphone vendors have been suffering from the events of the past couple of years, including the pandemic and the economic downturn. However, they all appear to be recovering, as shown by the recent increase in shipments. For instance, mostly based on the main line of Galaxy Series, Samsung's smartphone shipments totaled nearly 223.5 million units globally in 2024. Next to Samsung, Apple is a major manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, with the company shipping more than 228 million iPhones worldwide in 2024. Apple’s sales tend to be very cyclical, peaking in the fourth quarter each year, much like in the fourth quarter of 2023, when they took the first spot in terms of units shipped globally with around 80.5 units. Xiaomi in the lead While Apple and Samsung are typically the two major companies challenging for the top spot, Huawei had provided a strong challenge in recent years. Particularly, the Chinese company managed to climb the smartphone market ladder between 2011 and 2024, recording shipments of over 42 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, strong performances from rivals like Xiaomi and the effects of the U.S. trade ban have since seen Huawei fall outside the list of top five vendors by smartphone shipments.

Manufacturers’ market share of smartphone sales in the United States is led by Apple and Samsung, with a market share of 52 percent and 24 percent, respectively, as of the second quarter of 2024. Next to Apple and Samsung are Lenovo and HMD, with respective market shares of 12 and one percent.  Global smartphone market While Apple continues to lead the U.S. smartphone market, it has traditionally lagged behind on the global scale. Samsung has been the leading smartphone vendor worldwide since 2012. However, Samsung’s lead in terms of market share has started to dwindle in recent years, meaning that Apple and other Chinese competitors, such as Xiaomi, vivo, and Huawei, have seen a boost in the smartphone industry. Apple’s traction on the global scale in 2020 comes from its move towards 5G-enabled smartphones, which have doubled sales one year, from 2020 to 2021, alone. Apple is currently the leading vendor in terms of global 5G smartphone shipments. The introduction of 5G throughout the world brings with it the possibility to upheave the smartphone market as we know it. Are U.S. consumers satisfied with Apple and Samsung phones? Apple and Samsung not only lead the smartphone market in the United States in terms of usage, but also in terms of customer satisfaction. The highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index are nearly all Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone models. Furthermore, it appears that U.S. smartphone users are unlikely to change their primarily used smartphone brand anytime soon.

As of the first quarter of 2024, Samsung was the leading smartphone vendor, holding 20 percent of the market. Apple followed closely occupying 17 percent of the global smartphone market. Other vendors had lower shares.

As of March 2024, Samsung's market share of smartphones in South Korea amounted to over 66 percent, higher than in any other country or territory in the Asia-Pacific region. In comparison, Samsung's market share of smartphones in China was the lowest in the region during that year. Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics is a subsidiary of Samsung Group headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. Despite taking a hit in 2019, global revenues of Samsung Electronics have grown steadily in the last years. Around half of company’s revenues come from Asia, with China and South Korea being the largest markets. Market situation in Asia-Pacific The Asia-Pacific region presents a promising future for smartphone companies willing to penetrate the market as mobile adoption rates are on the rise. In APAC countries, smartphones are also reported to be primary means of accessing the internet. When it comes to the direct competitors in the region, Apple has the leading smartphone market share in countries like Australia and Vietnam, whereas Oppo and Xiaomi are market leaders in Indonesia and India respectively.

The statistic shows the share of mobile phone sales worldwide to end users by vendor from 1997 to 2014. In 2014, Samsung held a market share of 20.9 percent of mobile phone sales worldwide.

Mobile phone market share - additional information

With a market share of about 21 percent, Samsung is the leading mobile phone vendor worldwide. Samsung has held the top position since 2012 when the South Korean company passed Nokia, Samsung’s closest competitor at the time. Nokia has seen its mobile phone market share fall from nearly 40 percent in 2008 to almost ten percent in 2014, dropping to third place in terms of market share in the beginning of 2015. The second largest mobile phone vendor in the world is Apple, with a share of around ten percent.

Samsung is especially known for some of its consumer products such as mobile devices and home entertainment systems. In the third quarter of 2015, the South Korean company sold over 100 million mobile phones. Samsung also leads the smartphone market; the company accounts for 42.7 percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide, with 306 million unitsin 2016 alone. The success in the mobile market is reflected in the company’s global revenue.

Apple has taken over the position of second largest mobile phone vendor in the world due to Nokia's decline, and the increasing popularity of smartphones. The company shipped just over 215 million smartphones in 2016. The iPhone is Apple's main product, and generates more than 60 percent of the company's revenue.

This statistic shows the global market share held by Samsung with respect to sales of mobile phones to end users from the first quarter of 2009 to the latest financial quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Samsung had a global market share of 22.7 percent of the mobile phone market. Samsung is also the global leading smartphone vendor.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Samsung held 18.2 percent of the global smartphone market in terms of unit sales. This is a decrease compared to the previous quarter when Samsung held one-fifth of the market.

Samsung held a 20 percent share of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2024. Apple followed closely behind, with an overall share of 17 percent.

The changing face of the smartphone market

The make-up of the smartphone market has changed significantly since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost 50 percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, and before the arrival of the iPhone, it was hard for consumers to imagine Nokia becoming a market outsider.

Huawei's rise and fall have had a significant impact on the face of the market. Huawei consistently challenged Apple and Samsung for position at the top of the market, even leading it in the second quarter of 2020. Huawei has not appeared in the top five since the second quarter of 2021, largely as a result of trade restrictions.

RIM’s Blackberry devices stand as an example of the effect large-display touchscreen devices had on the market. Blackberry devices sold on a number of strengths, including a well-designed physical QWERTY keyboard and secure enterprise integration. The Blackberry lost its unique value as touchscreen devices improved, leading to a significant decline in revenue. RIM eventually ceased development of the Blackberry in 2016.

In the fourth quarter of 2021 Apple took the top spot in smartphone shipments worldwide, accounting for 22 percent of the market share that quarter. Apple was followed by Samsung, with 18.9 percent of the market share.

Apple's global smartphone market share based on shipments has remained relatively stable between 2014 and 2022. Samsung, on the other hand, has fluctuated, whereas Xiaomi has increased their smartphone market share by nearly 10 percentage points since 2014 and now stands as the third largest global smartphone vendor.

In the third quarter of 2024, Samsung took the top position among smartphone vendors by shipments, accounting for 19 percent of the market share, followed by Apple with 18 percent. Xiaomi came in third with 14 percent of smartphone shipments worldwide.

As of July 2024, Apple’s iPhone 15 was the most popular smartphone model sold in the United States, accounting for over 17.5 percent of total smartphone sales. The iPhone was the most popular smartphone in the United States at that time, occupying four spots in the top five. Apple and Samsung: two leading competitors Apple and Samsung are the leading smartphone vendors in the United States with a combined market share of almost 80 percent in the second quarter of 2023. The two smartphone vendors dominate the U.S. smartphone market not only in terms of sales, but also when it comes to customer satisfaction: Samsung’s Galaxy line and the Apple iPhones are the highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index. In line with their successes in the United States, Apple and Samsung also lead the global smartphone market, albeit to a lesser degree – the two brands have a combined market share of close to 40 percent. Smartphone penetration the highest in the United States Smartphone sales value in the United States more than doubled in the last decade, making the U.S. one of the major smartphone markets globally. In 2024, over 118 million smartphones were forecast to be sold, with the number of U.S. smartphone users forecast expected to grow in the coming years.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple held the greatest share of the smartphone market based on sales to end users. Apple's market share reached 21.9 percent during the quarter, ahead of the 18.2 percent held by Samsung, and the 11.8 percent held by Xiaomi.

Apple claimed a 17.7 percent share of the market in the second quarter of 2024, an increase from the previous quarter. Apple's long time competitor, Samsung, ranked first with a market share of 18.3 percent. Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market Apple has been amongst the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009. With the decline of former market leaders Nokia and RIM, Apple and Samsung were able to grow their presence in the market. As a result of political pressure, tariffs and restrictions imposed by the U.S, Chinese manufacturer Huawei has recently dropped off of the top five list in the smartphone market, while Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion have gained ground. Coronavirus (COVD-19) pandemic impact on iPhone sales While the long-term impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on sale is difficult to determine, the immediate impact was quickly visible. While large quarterly fluctuations are normal for Apple’s revenue cycle, one must look back to 2017 to find two consecutive quarters in which Apple generated less than 30 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from the iPhone. A less strong performance in the first quarter of 2024, lead by the iPhone 16, gave Apple the second spot in terms of quarterly global unit shipments after Samsung, although strong sales in the fourth quarter of every year is a common occurrence with Apple products.

In 2023, Samsung Electronics held a 42.2 percent share of the global dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market based on sales revenue. Figures had slightly decreased compared to the market share of the previous year.

According to the most recent data, Apple continues to hold the top spot among vendors for 5G smartphones, holding close to one-third of the global market share in the second quarter of 2022. Samsung came second, with around 19 percent of the market share. The top three vendors combined accounted for over two-thirds of the entire market of 5G smartphones.

In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung and Apple were leaders of the European smartphone market. Xiaomi grew from four percent in the first quarter of 2019 to 18 percent in the first quarter of 2024.

Smartphones make up the primary component of the European mobile phone market, with the smartphone penetration rate in Europe being forecast to reach almost 82 percent in 2024.

Leading manufacturers maintain their share. While the total share of the European market held by Samsung and Apple has fluctuated during this time, they still accounted for more than 50 percent of the total market in the first quarter of 2024. The two tech giants alone were responsible for around 40 percent of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2024. Rather than the larger manufacturers, it has been the smaller manufacturers such as LG, ZTE and Lenovo that have seen their share of shipments decline. Since the third quarter of 2020, Huawei’s share has dropped significantly as well.

Huawei stalls Huawei’s previous growth was observed in the increase of total number of handsets shipped to 55.8 million units in the second quarter of 2020. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, Huawei’s total number of shipments dropped significantly to 32.3 million, and their European smartphone market share dropped to 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

After being squeezed by Xiaomi over the past few years, Samsung once again became the leading smartphone brand in India. Samsung led the market in three out of the four quarters of 2023. However, in the second quarter of 2024, Xiaomi and Vivo both surpassed Samsung in terms of market share, with 18 percent respectively. Aside from Samsung, the other four top smartphone brands are all by Chinese manufacturers. Smartphone market share in India The number of smartphone users in India, the second most populous country in the world, was on the rise. In 2023, there were about 1.01 billion smartphone users in the country. This figure was forecasted to jump to nearly 1.14 billion by 2025. By 2025, the share of the population in India that used a smartphone was predicted to rise to 78.4 percent. This growth can also be observed in the volume of smartphone shipments in India. The number of smartphone shipments in India increased from four million units in the second quarter of 2012 to 34 million units in the first quarter of 2024. Major players South Korean giant Samsung, a leader in the global smartphone market, had been the top smartphone vendor in India since early 2013, when the company held about 30 percent of the market share, until the end of 2017. But its position has been challenged by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Since its founding in 2010, Xiaomi has quickly risen to the top of China's crowded technology market and is now one of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers globally. The company specializes primarily in smartphones, but is also active in other markets.