Some invented it, others were the first and most stubborn competitors. The duel for market share in what is currently the most important electronic device, the smartphone, has been going on since 2007. Apple on the one hand, who made the touchscreen suitable for the masses, and on the other hand, Samsung, who succeeded best in implementing this with Google’s Android operating system. The South Koreans have always been ahead in terms of sales figures, but in 2023 Apple sold more smartphones than Samsung for the entire year for the first time.
But that could have just been a short-term interim high, because Samsung is already ahead of Apple again, according to figures from the market research company IDC. Samsung also suffered a slight decline (-0.7 percent). But according to IDC, the Californians experienced the biggest drop in sales figures since the Corona delivery difficulties, with a decrease of almost ten percent compared to the previous year.
This all becomes even more interesting when you look at the overall smartphone market. Compared to 2022, this grew by almost eight percent to almost 290 million devices. So there are winners too. On the one hand, Xiaomi, which was able to increase its sales by a good third. IDC gives the absolute numbers as follows: Samsung 60.1 million, Apple 50.1 million, Xiaomi 40.8 million smartphones. All of these numbers are estimates because the manufacturers themselves do not publish sales figures.
Surprise competitor
The real surprise, however, is the Chinese manufacturer Transsion, which produces a series of affordable smartphones under the Tecno brand that sell well, especially in developing and emerging countries. Transsion’s success is based not least on the fact that the cell phones are adapted to these markets. The camera in the top model, for example, is optimized to better recognize the faces of people with dark skin – a known problem in image recognition. The batteries are generously sized and can be recharged quickly. Transsion recorded growth of a whopping 85 percent, taking fourth place.
Experts expect the market for Android phones to grow faster than that for Apple devices. The problems that Apple is experiencing in China are also to blame for this. In many authorities, employees are now prohibited from using iPhones.