Apple was the top smartphone manufacturer in 2023 for the first time ever
The iPhone wore the crown during the fourth quarter of 2023
TRANSSION Holdings was next as the rapidly growing Chinese manufacturer saw its shipments rise 65% on an annual basis to 28.5 million. The company now has a 9% share of the global smartphone market, up from 6% during the same quarter in 2022. And in fifth place was vivo which shipped the same number of phones (23.9 million) during the 2023 fourth quarter as it did during the last quarter of 2022. However, vivo’s market share declined from 8% to 7%.
For all of 2023, Apple shipped a leading 229.3 million iPhones which was down 1%. But since that was better than the 4% decline for the overall market in 2023, the iPhone’s market share globally rose to 20% from 19% in 2022. Samsung went from number one in 2022 to number two in 2023 thanks to a 13% decline in shipments for the year. The company delivered 225.4 million phones, approximately four million fewer than Apple, and its market share declined from 22% to 20%.
TRANSSION was the only manufacturer among the top five to show a year-over-year gain in shipments (27% to be precise), and the 92.6 million phones it shipped during the year gave it 8% of the market, up 33% from the 6% it held in 2022.
AI will become a major differentiator between smartphone brands
Toby Zhu, senior analyst at Canalys, says that two letters will be driving smartphone manufacturers in 2024. “Investing in on-device AI for the high-end segment and expanding shipments in mid-to-low-end segments will become two strategic directions for smartphone vendors in 2024. AI will span from product level differentiation to operational and corporate strategy, varying across companies.”
For the first time ever, Apple is the top smartphone manufacturer for a full year
