Smartphone Market Grew 4 Percent in 3Q24

According to preliminary data from IDC, global smartphone shipments increased 4% year over year to 316.1 million units in the third quarter of 2024. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of shipment growth with a strong start into the second half of this year despite macroeconomic concerns.

“Led by strong growth from Chinese vendors like vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, Lenovo, and Huawei, the smartphone market shows resilience despite global economic headwinds," said Will Wong, senior research manager for AP Client Devices. "Nevertheless, the growth among vendors was uneven. While some companies grappled with elevated Bill-of-Materials (BOM) costs, others benefited from favorable exchange rates in emerging markets like Southeast Asia. vivo's performance was particularly notable, fueled by aggressive product launches and a low comparison base.”

"While the growth of the Chinese players in emerging markets has been an ongoing theme this year, Apple also enjoyed a 3.5% YoY growth in shipments this quarter fueled by strong demand from the previous models and the launch of the new iPhone 16 lineup,” said Nabila Popal, research director for Worldwide Client Devices. "In Q3 2024, older iPhone models, specifically the iPhone 15, performed exceptionally well due to the heavy promotions and increased marketing activities around Apple Intelligence. Despite the staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence in markets outside the U.S., Apple will continue to grow in the upcoming holiday season as it expects many customers to upgrade from the iPhone 13, iPhone 12, and prior models to a new AI-enabled smartphone, future-proofing their purchases for the long term.”

Samsung retained its market leadership despite a drop in the total number of units shipped. The Korean company shipped 57.8 million smartphones (a 2.8% YoY drop) capturing 18.3% of the market. Apple came second with 56 million shipments (3.5% growth) and took a 17.7% share. Xiaomi remained third shipping 42.8 million devices (3.3% up YoY) with a 13.6% share. Oppo made 28.8 million shipments (+5.9% YoY) reaching a 9.1% market share, as vivo saw the largest YoY growth (22.8%) with 27 million devices and 8.5% share.