Apple hits “all-time high” smartphone market share, takes #1 spot for 2023
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Market research firm IDC has released some stunning smartphone market share numbers for 2023. The number one smartphone OEM is now Apple. The IDC says Apple hit an "all-time high market share" number for 2023 and that Apple has "the number 1 spot annually for the first time ever." The analyst group says this represents "a sort of shifting of power" in the smartphone market.
That all-time high market share puts Apple at 20.1 percent for 2023, a 3.7 percent growth over 2022. Nearly everyone on Team Android is way down, with Samsung now in second place after losing 13.6 percent in 2023 for 19.4 percent market share on the year. Chinese firm Xiaomi is down 4.7 percent for 12.5 percent market share, and Oppo (the parent company of OnePlus) dropped 9.9 percent and is fourth, with 8.8 percent of the market. Next up is "Transsion," a company that is definitely not a household name but is big in emerging markets like Africa. Transsion is a big winner, with 30 percent growth from 2022 to 2023. With 8.1 percent market share, it takes the fifth spot.
The IDC's market share charts for 2023. (credit: IDC)
Apple is usually not first in sales because the average iPhone purchase is much more expensive than an average Android phone. Samsung's cheapest phones can be had for about $50, and while you can get a wildly expensive foldable that costs a lot more than an iPhone, Samsung's bestselling models are often the midrange "A" series, which are in the $200-$450 range. Other Android manufacturers are in the same boat, with low-volume halo products and high-volume cheap devices.