Global iPhone shipments fell by 10% in the first quarter, with Samsung taking the lead

In the first quarter of the rebound in the global smartphone market, Chinese smartphone brands in the Android camp have risen against the trend, posing a serious challenge to Apple's iPhone, which has long dominated the high-end market. Apple's sales in the Chinese market have continued to decline, becoming the main reason for the decline in the company's smartphone shipments.

Although consumer preferences for flagship models have allowed Apple to maintain the industry's highest average selling price, its dominant position in the Chinese market is facing unprecedented challenges. According to preliminary data from IDC, in the first quarter of 2024, iPhone shipments were 50.1 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 9.6%, lower than analysts' expectations of 51.7 million units. This is another significant decline in the Chinese market performance following Apple's heavy blow in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Analysts believe that fierce competition from domestic smartphone brands such as Huawei has exacerbated Apple's plight in China. China is Apple's largest single market globally, accounting for nearly one-fifth of its revenue share in the second half of last year. However, since the launch of the previous generation iPhone in September 2023, iPhone sales in China have been unable to sustain growth.

Meanwhile, the industry as a whole achieved a steady recovery in this quarter. IDC data shows that smartphone manufacturers shipped a total of 289.4 million phones in this quarter, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%, the highest growth rate since the consumer electronics industry entered a saturated state in 2022.

Nabila Popal, research director at IDC, told the media:

"The smartphone market is recovering from the turbulence of the past two years, but it is also changing. Although Apple and Samsung both experienced negative growth in the first quarter, Samsung's overall performance seems to be better than in the past few quarters."

Samsung has regained the top spot in global shipments, with Apple in second place, and Xiaomi in third place achieving a strong growth of 33.8%, narrowing the gap with Apple.

IDC researchers found that as consumers increasingly prefer high-end flagship models and hope to use them for the long term, the average selling price of smartphones is also rising. Apple, as the manufacturer with the highest average selling price in the industry, is in a favorable position in this trend. Nevertheless, the company has taken unusual discounts this year to stimulate sales, with some Chinese retailers offering discounts of over 1300 RMB