IDC: Apple iPhone beaten by Samsung Galaxy in Q3 2024

Samsung remained the market leader in the third quarter of the year. After Canalys, IDC reports that Samsung was the biggest smartphone vendor in Q3, 2024, beating its close rival, Apple with a margin of 1.8 million units.

IDC report says the global smartphone market grew by 4% with 316.1 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2024. Interestingly, the market growth was led by strong growth from Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, Lenovo, and Huawei.

Per the report Samsung sold 57.8 million units, securing 18.3% market share in Q3 2024. Last year, the company seized a 19.6% share by selling 59.5 million Galaxy phones. Notably, Samsung’s YoY growth was negative despite the global recovery.

Samsung maintained the leadership crown despite shipments decreasing marginally. 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.

Apple grabbed a 17.7% market share, with sales recorded at 56 million in the third quarter. The company grew 3.5% YoY, up from 54.1 million iPhone shipments, while market share declined merely 0.1%.

The US phone maker will continue to grow in the upcoming US holiday season. Many customers will likely upgrade from the iPhone 13, iPhone 12, and prior models to a new Apple Intelligence-powered iPhone 16 series.

Xiaomi retained its third spot, with shipments were 42.8 million and 13.5% market share in Q3. Last year, the company shipped 41.5 million units with a market share of 13.6%. The company’s YoY growth stalled, with a negligible 0.1% decline.

Other Chinese vendors; OPPO and vivo sold 28.8 and 27 million phones, respectively. The former had 9.1% market share, while the latter had 8.5%. Other vendors collectively sold 103.7 million smartphones up from 99.6 million in the last year.