Apple has overtaken Samsung as the world’s largest seller of smartphones.

According to the latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker from IDC, Samsung’s 12-year run atop the smartphone pyramid ended in 2023 with Apple commanding a 20 per cent market share against the South Korean company’s 19.4 per cent share.

Samsung was followed by Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion – the seller of Tecno, Infinix and itel brands – in third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

The report notes that economic factors had a significant impact on the rankings, with a slower-than-expected recovery in China weighing on overall phone sales. Consumers were more hesitant to upgrade their handsets in 2023 and, when they did, they were more likely to choose cheaper devices, the report said.

Apple and Transsion were the only two brands from the top five to record sales growth, with the overall market declining by 3.2 per cent to 1.17 billion units – a decade low. Apple iPhone shipments were up 3.7 per cent, while Samsung phone shipments were down by 13.6 per cent.

Nabila Popal, research director at IDC's Worldwide Tracker team, said: "While we saw some strong growth from low-end Android players like Transsion and Xiaomi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets, the biggest winner is clearly Apple.”

Last week, Microsoft overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable public company amid Wall Street concerns around cooling demand for iPhones, iPads and other high-end gadgets including the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, which will launch in the US on 2 February.

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