For more than 15 years, the giants Samsung and Apple have been in a continuous race to acquire the dominant position in the smart mobile phone market. Even though both companies produce the most popular such devices on the market, and the number of their users is already counted in the billions, the South Korean company has been in the lead for a long time. However, the differences between Samsung and Apple in terms of phone volumes shipped have narrowed significantly over the years.
According to information presented by AltIndex.com, Samsung shipped 171.8 million smartphones in the first nine months of 2024, 20 million units more than Apple, the difference between the two companies being the smallest in history.
The differences between the two companies’ delivery volumes have been narrowing for some time. While Samsung’s shipments have fallen, Apple’s has risen, with the current gap between South Korean and American shipments only a fifth of what it was in 2019.
One of the reasons why this gap in shipped volumes is falling in Apple’s favor is the South Korean company’s shift in focus from low-cost, high-volume budget models to more expensive flagships like the Z Flip/Fold and Galaxy series S. At the same time, competition from China, such as Xiaomi or Oppo, has made great progress in recent years, gaining significant market share in regions previously dominated by Samsung with its affordable devices.
On the other hand, the ecosystem Apple built around the company’s devices, customer loyalty to the brand, longer upgrade cycles and software support offered encouraged existing customers to stick with their iPhones, thus generating steady growth. Last but not least, Apple’s expansion into regions such as India, and even the choice to manufacture some iPhone models locally, have led to increased sales of these phones. These factors have led to the emergence of fiercer competition between the two companies, both choosing to focus primarily on the quality of devices sold and not necessarily on quantity, prioritizing high-income customers.
The gap between the two companies has steadily decreased over the past decade
And the information provided by the IDC agency shows us exactly how Apple has approached Samsung in recent years. In the first nine months of 2024, South Koreans shipped 171.8 million smartphones, and Apple shipped 151.3 million. In 2019, the difference between the volumes delivered by the two brands was no less than 108.8 million units in favor of Samsung, five times more consistent than now. Moreover, five years earlier, in the first nine months of 2014, the differences in shipments between Samsung and Apple amounted to 125 million units in favor of the South Korean manufacturer.
Data provided by IDC shows that the volume of units shipped by Samsung has decreased by 30% over the past ten years, while the volume of units shipped by Apple has increased by 28%. In the first nine months of 2014, Samsung shipped 243 million smartphones globally, 71 million more than it did in the same period this year. Using the same timelines, Apple’s shipments in the first nine months of 2024 were 33 million units higher than in the same period in 2014 (151.3 million versus 118.2 million).
Despite these declines, Samsung manages to retain its crown for total shipments over the past decade between Q1 2014 and Q3 2024, with the South Korean shipping just over 3 billion smartphones, 700 million more than rivals from Apple.
Source: AltIndex.com
Source: www.go4it.ro
