The iPhone 13 dominates the smartphone market
Analyst Francisco Jeronimo of IDC reports that Apple’s iPhone 13 was the best-selling smartphone worldwide in the quarter ending March 2022. That’s despite the serious supply issues that Apple faced during that time.IDC chose not to reveal the total number of units sold. It didn’t disclose the phone’s individual market share either. But the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 were the best-selling phones of 2021 and 2020 respectively, so the iPhone 13’s strong start was expected. As a reminder, the iPhone 13 retails at $799 in the United States and offers the latest A15 Bionic chipset coupled with a dual-camera setup and a 6.1-inch notched display. That’s in addition to iOS 15 straight out of the box.Looking at the competition, it seems that the iPhone 13 was mostly facing a head-to-head battle with Apple’s other models. The 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max took second place in Q1 2022, suggesting people are more than willing to pay a small premium for access to a larger display.
Apple’s current results mean the iPhone 14 series could do even better
One thing’s clear from Apple’s latest results: the company seems to have found the perfect two smartphone sizes. And that could dramatically increase demand with the iPhone 14 debut in September.
Apple’s two 6.1-inch iPhone models made it into the top 5 last quarter. These devices are likely popular with customers coming from older 5.8-inch or 4.7-inch iPhones. There may even be some interest from those replacing their legacy 4-inch phones.
But perhaps more important is the fact that Apple’s 6.7-inch Pro model outsold the 6.1-inch version. This trend, which has been consistent since the iPhone 12 launch in late 2020, suggests that there’s generally more demand for bigger iPhones.
Samsung currently occupies the two remaining top spots
Circling back to the current top 5, it’s Samsung that manages to fill in the gaps, though it didn’t do so with the flagship Galaxy S22 series. Demand for those devices wasn’t strong enough to warrant a top spot, unfortunately. The brand instead occupied the positions with two budget devices: the entry-level Galaxy A12 took third place in the January-March quarter and the mid-range Galaxy A32 occupied fifth place.
Samsung is the current leader in the low-end smartphone segment and is likely to keep its crown in the coming quarters. Both the Galaxy A12 and Galaxy A32 have since been replaced with the newer Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A33, which further contribute to Samsung’s mission of offering 5G support at all price points.
