regains the first position of smartphones thanks to the Galaxy S24

The year 2024 gave its first surprise in the first days, when it was revealed that Samsung had lost its leadership in the smartphone market for the first time in 13 years. A multitude of circumstances, including changes in consumer priorities, have caused a “exceeding“historical.

Things weren’t looking good for Samsung or other Android manufacturers. As the average price of mobile phones increases, it seems that more and more users They preferred to join the Apple company; and it is clear that the Galaxy S23 range has not succeeded in convincing them.

But none of this came as a surprise to Samsung, which has already started significant changes They have been noticed for a year now. And Apple’s reign lasted very little, only a quarter, and Samsung returned to the top.

Samsung is the queen again

This was confirmed by IDC, which released its smartphone distribution data for the first quarter of 2024; As usual, it must be remembered that this is not sales data, which most brands keep secret, but rather data on the number of cell phones reaching distributors and stores. But in the absence of more precise figures, these are the industry benchmark and those that indicate how the industry is doing.

And the results speak for themselves: Samsung overtook Apple in the first quarter, thanks to the early launch of the Galaxy S24. Remember that Samsung has traditionally waited a little longer to launch its cutting-edge mobile phones, but in this generation it launched them closer to the iPhone and with a great novelty, Galaxy AI and its Artificial Intelligence functions.

This seems to have been enough to convince more users that they should change their Samsung mobilebeating the market’s downward trend and remaining virtually stable compared to last year.

Thus, Samsung distributed 60.5 million units during the first three months of the year, compared to 50.1 million for Apple. This is a drop of 9.6% compared to the same period last year for the apple company; Perhaps that’s why the iPhone 16 rumors point to a very different device from the latest ones, and that will give more reason to upgrade.

But the big winners of the first quarter of the year are undoubtedly Chinese brands. Xiaomi affirmed its third position with an impressive increase of 33.8%, despite the fact that some models of its new Xiaomi 14 range did not reach the global market. Xiaomi is already very close to Applewith 14.1% of the market compared to 17.3% for the apple company.

The biggest surprise for the reader will be in fourth position, where we find a brand unknown to most Spaniards: Transsion, with growth of no less than 84.9%. Transsion specializes in products for the African market and has managed to dominate several market niches. Finally, OPPO closes the Top 5, despite a slight decline (-8.5%) compared to last year.

More expensive cell phones

The good news from the IDC report is that the industry is doing well, better than expected. Everything indicates that the recovery of the sector begins, with an improvement of 7.8% compared to the same period last year; IDC notes that market optimism is increasing among larger brands, although this may be negative for smaller brands. IDC hopes that the majors will begin to diversify their offering to attract more users.

The other information that this report leaves is that the average price of cell phones has increased again. In other words, users who switch mobile phones prefer “premium” mobile phones or upgrade to a more expensive phone, while users who prefer cheaper mobile phones do not hesitate to continue using the one they have. they own.