The launch of Apple’s iPhone 16 boosted the global smartphone market in Q3.
According to IDC, Apple achieved a record-high shipment volume during that quarter, snaring 17.7 percent market share, just a hair’s breadth from leader Samsung’s 18.3 percent stake. The strong demand for the iPhone 16 series, coupled with continued sales of legacy models, contributed to Apple’s success.
The iPhone 16’s impact was notable given its launch timing. While Samsung introduced its latest smartphones at the beginning of the quarter in July, the iPhone 16 series only went on sale on September 13, halfway through the last month of Q3. Despite this limited time frame, Apple’s sales performance was robust, likely benefiting from the timing and pent-up demand.
“In Q3 2024, older iPhone models, specifically the iPhone 15, performed exceptionally well due to the heavy promotions and increased marketing activities around Apple Intelligence. Despite the staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence in markets outside the US, Apple will continue to grow in the upcoming holiday season as it expects many customers to upgrade from the iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and prior models to a new AI-enabled smartphone, future-proofing their purchases for the long term,” said Nabila Popal, Research Director of Worldwide Client Devices at IDC.
Overall, worldwide smartphone shipments rose by five percent year-over-year to 316.1 million units, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth.
“Led by strong growth from Chinese vendors like Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, Lenovo, and Huawei, the smartphone market shows resilience despite global economic headwinds,” said Will Wong, Senior Research Manager of AP Client Devices at IDC.
Francisco Jeronimo, Vice President of EMEA Client Devices at IDC, noted that Samsung retained its market leadership despite a drop in the total number of units shipped.
“However, the company continues to grow its share in the premium segment as the average prices increased in the quarter driven by a stronger mix of Galaxy AI-enabled models. The company started rolling out Galaxy AI features to other Samsung models and launched the new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 foldables with Galaxy AI, which contributed to a better performance in the premium segment,” he said.
Entelechy Asia 