Global smartphone shipments grew 4% YoY in 2024 after a decade-low in 2023; top two brands, Samsung and Apple, were mostly flat, while Xiaomi grew 12% YoY
- Global smartphone sell-through grew 4% YoY in 2024, following the weakest year in a decade in 2023.
Context & Ripple Effects
The 2024 rebound followed a 2023 market decline that put Apple ahead of Samsung, establishing a low base for renewed global sell-through growth. An early signal of the recovery was strong first-quarter shipment growth, although Apple’s iPhone volumes fell during that quarter.
The full-year result matters because aggregate growth did not translate evenly across leaders: Samsung and Apple were broadly unchanged, while Xiaomi expanded faster. Later coverage shows the market continued growing in 2025, but at a slower rate, with Apple returning to growth and leading market share.
First-order effects
- Global smartphone sell-through resumed growth after 2023’s decade-low, improving the volume backdrop for handset makers and their component channels.
- Xiaomi’s 12% growth increased its relative momentum against Samsung and Apple, whose shipments were mostly flat in 2024.
Second-order effects
- Samsung and Apple face greater pressure to defend volume and channel position as Xiaomi’s growth shifts competitive attention beyond the two largest brands.
- A recovery led unevenly by vendor means handset suppliers and retail partners may see demand mix move toward faster-growing brands rather than rise uniformly across the market.
Third-order effects
- The data points to a smartphone market in which overall replacement demand can recover without automatically restoring growth for incumbent leaders; share gains become more consequential than market expansion.
- If subsequent growth remains modest, competitive differentiation and regional execution are likely to matter more to vendor outcomes than a broad-based industry rebound.
The trend: Smartphones are moving from a post-slump volume recovery toward a slower-growth, share-driven competitive cycle.