Apple becomes world leader in smartphone sales

The iPhone outsold Samsung devices globally by 10 million units in 2023, data shows

Apple has overtaken Samsung as the world’s top smartphone seller, ending twelve years of dominance by the South Korean tech giant, preliminary data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) on Tuesday showed.   

The iPhone took the top spot last year with 234.6 million units sold, surpassing Samsung’s total of 226.6 million, the data showed.   

“While we saw some strong growth from low-end Android players like Transsion and Xiaomi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets, the biggest winner is clearly Apple,” the IDC said.  

Researchers linked Apple’s advance to the growing popularity of high-end devices, noting that the “shifting of power” at the top of the largest consumer electronics market was driven by an all-time high market share for Apple.  

“The last time a company not named Samsung was at the top of the smartphone market was 2010, and for 2023 it is now Apple,” the IDC said.   

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The US tech giant achieved a market share of 20.1%, ahead of Samsung’s 19.4%, according to the IDC. Apple had established itself as the largest smartphone producer in terms of revenues and profits, but this is the first time it has led the market in terms of sales volumes.

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