Samsung saw a slight decrease in sales from the third quarter of 2021 to the fourth, selling 68.97 million units in the fourth quarter of 2021. Samsung ranked second in terms of global smartphone sales to end users during this quarter, falling behind Apple, although Apple follows a strong trend of high sales at the end of every year.

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.

In financial year 2023, the total revenue of Samsung India has reached 989.2 billion Indian rupees. It was a 16 percent increase in comparison to the previous year. However, the company reported a 10 percent decline in profit. Most of the revenue came from the smartphone segment. Samsung is the leading company in various segments in India, including smartphones, TVs, refrigerators, etc.

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.

The statistic shows the market share of Samsung in regards to new mobile phone sales worldwide from 2012 to 2015 and from January to September of 2016. In 2014, Samsung's market share was at 22.6 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung shipped around 52 million smartphones, a decrease from the both the previous quarter and the same quarter of the previous year. Samsung’s sales consistently place the smartphone giant among the top three smartphone vendors in the world, alongside Xiaomi and Apple. Samsung smartphone sales – how many phones does Samsung sell? Global smartphone sales reached over 1.2 billion units during 2024. While the global smartphone market is led by Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi has gained ground following the decline of Huawei. Together, these three companies hold more than 50 percent of the global smartphone market share.

Apple appears to have recovered from their coronavirus (COVID-19) related drop in sales in 2020 and 2021, selling more units in the fourth quarter of 2021 than ever over the demonstrated period, with over 80 million devices. Xiaomi made the largest increase among the major smartphone vendors, now selling close to 45 million devices.

Huawei's rise and fall

Huawei had enjoyed solid growth since the first quarter of 2016, and were one of the companies to best weather the initial impacts of the pandemic. At the start of the reported period, the company sold 28.86 million units, which was enough to give Huawei an 8.3 percent share of the market. By the second quarter of 2020 that figure rose to 54.13 million units, giving the Chinese smartphone vendor a market share of 18.4 percent worldwide. The second quarter of 2020 also marked the first time that Huawei shipped more devices than any other smartphone vendor, shipping 55.8 million units, ahead of the 54.2 million that Samsung shipped. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, their sales dropped to 34 million units during the first quarter of 2021, they were no longer part of the leading smartphone vendors by sold units.

COVID-19 took a heavy toll on Samsung

While some vendors showed resilience to the COVID-19 outbreak, Samsung first took a heavier knock. For approximately six-and-a-half years, Samsung has shipped more than 70 million smartphones in every quarter. This came to an end in the first quarter of 2020, when the company shipped 55.33 million devices. However, they have since recovered and in the second quarter of 2021, the 57.75 million units sold were enough to establish Samsung as the smartphone market leaders.

In 2023, Samsung Electronics held a 30.1 percent share of televisions sold in the global market. Figures increased slightly from the previous year, when the share stood at 29.7 percent. The company had seen a steady yearly increase in its global TV market share from 2017 to 2020. Television ownership in South Korea Televisions are a well-established household good in South Korea. On average, the number of TVs owned per household has long exceeded one device. Results of a nationwide survey showed that the ownership rate of TVs was about 97 percent in 2022, with the capital city Seoul being the only outlier compared to other provinces. Declining television viewership Despite the high penetration rate of televisions in the country, traditional TV broadcasters are struggling. Viewership rates of terrestrial and pay TV channels have suffered downward trends in recent years, with consumers spending less and less time watching such broadcasts. Instead, the online video market in South Korea has risen in popularity, highlighting a significant shift in the industry.

The statistic shows the unit shipments of Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones worldwide from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, 8.3 million Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ smartphones were shipped worldwide during the launch month and 36.7 million more are forcast to sell the rest of 2018.

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.

The global revenue made by Samsung Electronics between 2005 and 2023 has overall grown. In 2023, Samsung Electronics recorded a revenue of around 259 trillion South Korean won (approximately 194 billion U.S. dollars).

Samsung Electronics and subsidiaries Samsung was founded in 1938 and originally dealt with groceries as well as the production noodles. It quickly diversified into a variety of sectors including insurance and retail and became the present day corporation in 1947, after a joint investment in Samsung Mulsan Gongsa. The headquarters are found in Seoul, South Korea. There are several subsidiaries that account for the variety of enterprises that the Samsung Group undertakes including Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Heavy Industries. Samsung Electronics is one of the largest subsidiaries of the Samsung Group, making much over half of the group’s revenue. Samsung Electronics is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea and has assembly plants and sales networks in 80 countries. Samsung Electronics generated most of its revenue in the Americas and Europe in 2022.

Major divisions

Samsung Electronics has four major divisions including digital media, semiconductor, telecommunication network, and LCD digital appliances. The company provides electronic components such as lithium-ion batteries and semiconductors to companies like Sony and Apple. Samsung is become especially known for some of its consumer products such as mobile devices as well as their home entertainment systems. Since 2002, the company has been one of the largest producers of LCD panels as well as one of the largest television manufacturers in the world. As of 2022, Samsung held almost 30 percent of the global TV market share. As of 2023, global mobile phone shipments were forecast to total over one billion units; in that same year Samsung's smartphone shipments amounted to over 226 million units.

As per recent data, in the fourth quarter of 2019, Samsung Display Company accumulated around six billion U.S. dollars in revenue through the sale of OLED panels and another 884 million through the sale of LCD display panels.

This statistic describes the market share of leading smartphone brands in Taiwan as of June 2016, based on sales volume. During the measured time period, Samsung occupied 24.5 percent of the smartphone market in Taiwan, while AsusTek captured 16.2 percent.

As per recent company data, around 18 percent of sales revenue at Samsung Electronics was generated in Europe in 2023, whilst the majority was made in the Americas with a 35 percent share. 11 percent of the company's sales revenue was generated in China, representing a decrease of one percent in relation to the previous year and 17 percent in Korea. Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics is a global leader in semiconductors, telecommunications and digital media technologies, and one of the most valuable technology brands in the world. Headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, the company was founded in 1969, although their presence today can be seen and felt worldwide. Globally, the company employs more than 287 thousand people, with around two thirds of these employed outside of South Korea. Samsung in Europe In Europe, Samsung has a regional office in Eschborn (Germany), as well two research and development (R&D) sites in Aalborg (Denmark) and Cambridge (UK). Samsung spends nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars on research and development each year. As stated by the company, their R&D hubs lead the development of future technologies, covering core themes including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and security.

The net revenue of Samsung Eletrônica da Amazônia Ltda. increased overall between 2016 and 2023. In 2023, Samsung's subsidiary in Brazil reported net revenues of approximately 27.6 billion Brazilian reals, up from 18.3 billion reals in 2016, but decreased compared to the previous year.

The smartphone sales volume of Sony Corporation consistently decreased in recent years, reaching a value of 2.9 million units in fiscal year 2020. The company's smartphone sales dropped by 3.6 million units in the last two years.

Competition is becoming tougher

According to news reports, Sony’s struggle in the mobile communications unit is closely related to decreased sales in Europe, Japan, and Latin America. One reason for this development can be found in the growing competition by manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi. Xiaomi and Oppo have entered the European market in recent years, putting more pressure on Sony. While the company does well when it comes to its game and network services, the annual sales of Sony's mobile communications segment, which incorporates smartphones and internet-related services, decreased significantly.

Changing attitudes of consumers

The global smartphone market has repeatedly been described as saturated. While there are some fluctuations throughout the years, even Apple and Samsung at times had to report shrinking profits. As current smartphone technology is already advanced, consumers are seeing less technological improvements in products, leading to fewer incentives to buy a new phone with only minor differences for a higher price. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic also contributed to changes in consumer attitudes. Sony stated in 2020 that the high-end smartphone market was contracting as customers preferred lower-priced models.

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.

In the third quarter of 2024, Samsung Electronics recorded revenues of around 79 trillion South Korean won, which amounted to approximately 57 billion U.S. dollars. The South Korean tech giant’s digital experience segment accounted for almost 30 billion U.S. dollars of this figure, while its semiconductor business netted a further five billion. Consumer electronics Over the past few decades, mobile electronic devices have become an increasingly integral part of the daily lives of people across the globe, with consumer expenditures expected to exceed 730 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. As one of the world’s leading vendors of smartphones, televisions, tablets, wearables, and consumer electronics as a whole, Samsung is well positioned to take advantage of this trend. In addition to producing products to sell under the Samsung brand, the company also manufactures electronic components to be sold to other vendors, most notably displays and semiconductors. SamsungSamsung, perhaps best known for its consumer electronics division, owns business ventures that span across a large range of industries. Controlling some of the top companies operating in every sector from electronics to insurances to shipbuilding, Samsung ranks among the largest conglomerates in the world in terms of market value. The company employs hundreds of thousands of workers and accounts for a significant portion of South Korea’s GDP, meaning that Samsung is massively influential within its home country and throughout the world.

In 2022, smartphone vendors sold around 1.39 billion smartphones were sold worldwide, with this number forecast to drop to 1.34 billion in 2023.

Smartphone penetration rate still on the rise

Less than half of the world’s total population owned a smart device in 2016, but the smartphone penetration rate has continued climbing, reaching 78.05 percent in 2020. By 2025, it is forecast that almost 87 percent of all mobile users in the United States will own a smartphone, an increase from the 27 percent of mobile users in 2010.

Smartphone end user sales

In the United States alone, sales of smartphones were projected to be worth around 73 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, an increase from 18 billion dollars in 2010. Global sales of smartphones are expected to increase from 2020 to 2021 in every major region, as the market starts to recover from the initial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In 2023, Samsung Heavy Industries' sales revenue amounted to approximately eight trillion South Korean won. This was an increase from the previous year, and the highest figure recorded since 2016.