It took 13 years to unseat Samsung from the top of the smartphone market, but Apple finally succeeded. According to the "Worldwide QuarterlyMobile Phone Tracker" report by analysts at International DataCorporation (IDC), the Cupertino giant closed 2023 with +11.6% in quarterly shipments, compared to the same period in 2022. A figure that, combined with Samsung's 10.9% decline in the quarter, leads the two companies to exchange positions. The Korean now has to watch its back from Xiaomi, which gained 22.7 percentage points at the end of the year. The market share therefore sees Apple secure a 24.7% share, Samsung is at 16.3% while Xiaomi at 12.5%. Transsion (8.6%), a leading name in China with the production of brands such as Tecno, Itel and Infinix, very popular at home as well as in emerging markets, and Vivo at 7.4%, is further behind. It was 2010 when a company other than Samsung commanded the mobile phone market. In that case, it was Nokia, which was ahead of Apple and RIM (owner of the BlackBerry brand) in analysts' data. "Apple has certainly played a role in Samsung's decline, but the overall Android space is changing within it," IDC's Ryan Reith said in the report.
"Huawei is back and making its way quickly in China, brands like OnePlus, Honor, Google and others are launching very competitive devices in the lower price range of the top of the range. And foldable devices and growing discussions about AI features on smartphones are gaining traction. Overall, the industry is heading into a phase of change and an interesting era." Tomorrow, with the first Unpacked of the year, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S24 family, the first smartphones in the group equipped with artificial intelligence capabilities through Galaxy Ai.
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