Apple overtakes Samsung as top seller of smartphones

The new Apple iPhone 15 on display inside the tech giant's flagship store in Regent Street, central London. Picture date: Friday September 22, 2023. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)

Jonathan Brady  | Pa Images | Getty Images

Apple ended Samsung Electronics' 12-year run as the largest seller of smartphones in the world, after commanding a 20% share of the market in 2023, according to data from International Data Corp.

Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, followed by China's Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion, preliminary data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showed.

The change in ranking comes after a tough year that saw consumers going slow on smartphone upgrades due to broader macro uncertainty and high inflation.

A slower-than-expected recovery in China, the world's largest smartphone market, also weighed on overall phone sales.

Apple and Transsion were the only brands in the top five to record growth in shipments last year, when the market declined 3.2% to 1.17 billion units and hit a decade low.

Apple, however, is facing pressure in China from a resurgent Huawei as well as from budget Chinese brands. The iPhone-maker is offering rare discounts of as much as 5% on some models in the country to attract customers.