Mobile Phone Industry Shows Promising Signs of Recovery: Report

The mobile phone industry seems to be reviving, as highlighted in a recent report from the popular mobile phone tracker, International Data Corporation (IDC). The data from the report shows that global smartphone shipments grew 7.8% year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24). However, the mobile phone industry hasn’t fully recovered yet, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets. Still, this marks the third consecutive quarter of mobile shipment growth, which is a strong indicator that a full recovery is on the cards.

Besides, the tech giant Samsung managed to regain the first spot that it lost to Apple in Q3 of 2023, in terms of smartphone shipments. Samsung managed to ship 60.1 million handsets in Q1 of 2024 as compared to Apple’s 50.1 million units. In this regard, a research director at IDC said that there is a shift in power among the Top 5 mobile phone companies, which will probably continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world. Moreover, he added that Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past couple of years while Transsion (Tecno, Infinix, iTel) is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with healthy growth in international markets.

The table shows the mobile phone shipments of the top 5 companies in the recent two quarters.

Rank	Company	1Q24 Shipments (Millions)	1Q24 Market Share	1Q23 Shipments (Millions)	1Q23 Market Share	Year-Over-Year Change
1	Samsung	60.1	20.8%	60.5	22.5%	-0.7%
2	Apple	50.1	17.3%	55.4	20.7%	-9.6%
3	Xiaomi	40.8	14.1%	30.5	11.4%	33.8%
4	Transsion	28.5	9.9%	15.4	5.7%	84.9%
5	OPPO	25.2	8.7%	27.6	10.3%	-8.5%
Others	Others	84.7	29.3%	79.0	29.4%	7.2%
Total	Total	289.4	100.0%	268.5	100.0%	7.8%

While appreciating smartphone market growth, Ryan Reith, group vice president of IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said,

“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands. While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter. While IDC expects these two companies to maintain their hold on the high end of the market, the resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as notable gains from Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo, will likely have both OEMs looking for areas to expand and diversify. As the recovery progresses, we’re likely to see the top companies gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning.”