The global smartphone market showed signs of recovery in the first quarter of 2023, with shipments increasing by 6% year-on-year to reach a total of 296.9 million units, according to data released by Counterpoint Research. Samsung overtook Apple as the leader in the market, capturing 20% of the shipment market share, up from 17% in the previous quarter, while Apple’s share fell to 17%, with shipments declining 13% year over year.
The market growth was mainly attributed to robust performance in regions such as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, highlighted that the MEA region was particularly dynamic due to strong shipments from brands like Tecno, Xiaomi and Honor. He also noted that shipments to China were boosted by solid sales during the Lunar New Year and Huawei’s return to the market.
While there was a decline in smartphone shipments compared to difficult first quarters of previous years, Apple remained a leader in terms of revenue with a 43% share. Despite this decline in sales, Samsung’s revenue grew by 2%, driven by strong performances of Galaxy S24 series and Galaxy-A series. IDC reported that smartphone shipments rose by 7.8% to 289.4 million units in Q1 2023. This marked the third consecutive quarter of growth in the market despite declines in North American and Japanese markets.
The first quarter report shows that despite an increase in sales compared to Q1 2023, there is still room for improvement for manufacturers who need to adapt their strategies if they want to sustain their long-term success.
Overall, it appears that while there has been some growth in smartphone sales so far this year, it will be interesting to see how manufacturers continue their efforts to capture more market share as we move forward into Q2 and beyond.
