On paper, everything is fine for Apple, which always achieves a stratospheric turnover and obtains fairly mind -blowing profits. However, looking at it, we can see that iPhone sales tend to go back.
According to the figures of the CANALYS analysis company, Apple remains the world’s leading manufacturer of smartphones. The iPhone 15 is also the phone that sold best in 2024, representing 3 % of all deliveries worldwide.
Going a little more in detail, we see that the Cupertino firm sold 77.1 million iPhone worldwide from October to December, a million less than over the same period in 2023. From the apple brand captures 23 % market share. It is a point less than in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Difficulties in China
Note that its Samsung rival does not do better with a market share which decreases from a global point (from 17 to 16%). Only Chinese companies, such as Xiaomi and Transtion, see their market positions progress.
Canalys comments as follows: “For the entire year 2024, iPhone shipments decreased by 1 % to 225.9 million units. Samsung followed closely in second position thanks to its continuous profitability objective, since its shipments also decreased by 1 % to 222.9 million units. Xiaomi has retained its dominant position in third place, being the largest contributor to the growth of the volume of the industry in 2024. ”
Experts add:
Supported by a strong dynamic in continental China and a continuous strategic expansion on emerging markets, its shipments increased by 15 % to 168.6 million units. Transtion took fourth place for the very first time, while OPPO (including OnePlus) completed the top five, increasing by 15 % and 3 % to 106.7 million and 103.6 million units, respectively.
As a reminder, Apple obtained contrasting results last year. The company Counterpoint Research, for example, noted that the iPhone lost a market point worldwide in 2024. Its Samsung rival was also in difficulty, while their Chinese rivals are doing very well.
To explain this evolution, experts cited the absence of Apple Intelligence within the Empire of the Middle Kingdom which slowed down the tech giant. The director of Counterpoint, Tarun Pathak, underlines:
Apple’s iPhone 16 range has received a mixed response, partly due to the lack of availability from Apple Intelligence when launched. However, Apple continued to grow strongly in its non -strategic markets, such as Latin America.
More information in our previous article here.
