For the first time ever, Apple dominated the smartphone market in 2023

For pretty much forever, Samsung has led the smartphone market in smartphone shipments. It’s not surprising as the company has a wide variety of phones that appeal to consumers with varying needs and budgets. But it seems that for the first time ever in 2023, Apple dominated the smartphone market and stole the crown from Samsung.

This is according to the latest figures from Canalys where it was revealed that Apple not only led the smartphone market in Q4 2023, but for the entire 2023 as well. In Q4 2023, Apple shipped 78.1 million iPhones which gave them a 24% market share and an annual growth of 7%. This is versus Samsung who shipped 53.5 million units which was a decline in growth of 8%.

Overall for 2023, Apple managed to ship 229.2 million units. This allowed the company to narrowly edge out Samsung who shipped 225.4 million units. These numbers seem to be in line with an earlier report from IDC. Apple may or may not be able to hold onto this lead forever, so we’ll have to wait and see.

It is possible that 2024 could be Samsung’s year. The Galaxy S24 pre-orders are seeing double-digit growth compared to the Galaxy S23. This could very well be the boost Samsung needs to reclaim their position. Plus, there are rumors of a cheaper Galaxy Z Fold 6 which could also help in shipments.