Smartphone sales up 6.5% in Q2 2024
The recovery is well under way: After many quarters of decline, the market for smartphones is booming again according to new data from IDC.
The researcher's new Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report says global smartphone shipments increased 6.5% year over year to 285.4 million units in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24). This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of shipment growth, after sales slipped to their lowest point in a decade in early 2023.
IDC proclaimed the healthy performance but still cautioned that demand in some markets remains sluggish. It also cited the increasing concentration of sales among the dominant handset OEMs.
Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team, said in an official announcement: "While recovery is well under way with the top five companies all making year-over-year gains, we are seeing increasing competition amongst the leaders and a polarisation of price bands. As Apple and Samsung both continue to push the top of the market and benefit the most from the ongoing premiumisation trend, many leading Chinese OEMs are increasing shipments in the low end in an attempt to capture volume share amidst weak demand."
Against this, Popal stressed that the market is optimistic for the future thanks to higher average selling prices (ASPs) and the buzz created by Gen AI smartphones, which are expected to capture 19% of the market with 234 million shipments this year.
In terms of manufacturer market share, Samsung captured the top position in 2Q24 with 18.9% share of shipments, while Apple finished the quarter in second place with 15.8%. Xiaomi placed third in 2Q24 with 14.8% share while vivo and OPPO tied for the fourth position with 9.1% and 9.0% share respectively.
