Smartphone Shipment 2024 Summary Data
In order to account for unusual or outlying estimates, we average smartphone data from a number of sources to arrive at quarterly and yearly totals. Our aggregated smartphone shipment total for 2024 is 1.223 billion units, up 5.1% y/y. Based on our data Apple (AAPL) edged out Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) by 0.6% in terms of unit volume share (224.8m units for Apple and 223.5m units for Samsung), although Samsung had a higher share in every quarter except the 4th, which is when Apple releases the new iPhone. They were followed by Xiaomi (1810.HK) with 169m units, Oppo (pvt) with 106.1m, and Transsion (688036.CH), rounding out the top 5 with 102.4m units. Falling out of the top five last year were Vivo (pvt) and Honor (pvt), with Vivo only 1.4m units less than Transsion.
While our final unit volume number might be a bit different from others, we note that back in late 2023, when predictions are first made for the following year, they ranged from up 3% to up 6.2%, with most in the 3% to 4% range, so even with our 5.1% average increase, the year was a bit better than expected, above the trendline, and a welcome relief after two down years. Expectations for this year center around 2.1% to 2.4% unit volume growth. That said, our data indicates that 1Q unit volume was up 1%, and we believe there was some pre-tariff buying in that number. We are a bit less optimistic than the estimates, but the US/China trade situation puts everything in flux.
While our final unit volume number might be a bit different from others, we note that back in late 2023, when predictions are first made for the following year, they ranged from up 3% to up 6.2%, with most in the 3% to 4% range, so even with our 5.1% average increase, the year was a bit better than expected, above the trendline, and a welcome relief after two down years. Expectations for this year center around 2.1% to 2.4% unit volume growth. That said, our data indicates that 1Q unit volume was up 1%, and we believe there was some pre-tariff buying in that number. We are a bit less optimistic than the estimates, but the US/China trade situation puts everything in flux.
Figure 4 - Aggregated Yearly Global Smartphone Shipments - 2019 - 2024 - Source: SCMR LLC, various
Figure 5 - Smartphone Shipment Share - 2019 - 2024 - Source: SCMR LLC, various
Figure 6 - Smartphone Brand Share - Quarterly - 2024 - Source: SCMR LLC, various
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