Apple just had its worth performance since the pandemic devastated supply chains in 2022, according to a new analysis of global smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2024.
The Cupertino, California-based company sold 50.1 million iPhones between January and March, a 9.6% decrease from the same time in 2023, according to preliminary data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC). Apple controlled 17.3% of the market, down from 20.7% last year.
Samsung Electronics, which sold 60.1 million phones and had a 20.8% market share, was the best-performer in China last quarter, with Apple ranked second. Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi trailed behind both, with 14.1% of the market and 40.8 million units sold.
Overall, global smartphone shipments jumped 7.8% year-over-year to 289.4 million units, marking a third consecutive quarter of growth, according to the IDC.
“The smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years both stronger and changed,” Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, said in a statement.
Apple’s flagging performance reflects its struggles to sell iPhones in China after releasing its latest model — the iPhone 15 — in September 2023. The smartphone giant is being “squeezed” by aggressive pricing from local rivals like Oppo and Vivo, according to analysts from Counterpoint Research. Huawei has also seen a resurgence after releasing its latest smartphone series, the Mate 60 Pro, which helped its profits double in 2023.
On Jan. 15, Apple began offering discounts on its iPhones in China, cutting prices by as much as 500 yuan ($70). It was the company’s first price cut on new models in years. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Shanghai last month to commemorate the opening of Apple’s 47th store in China.
On Monday, Cook arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet Apple users, developers, and content creators during a two-day visit. Apple is the country’s third-largest smartphone vendor — behind China’s Oppo and South Korea’s Samsung — and the company has started developing and manufacturing Macbooks and iPads there.
Apple made $14 billion worth of iPhones in India last fiscal year as the company moves to reduce its reliance on China for manufacturing. As geopolitical tensions rise — and after a worker’s revolt cost Apple billions of dollars — the tech giant has been diversifying its supply chains.