As the world`s two largest smartphone producers, Samsung and Apple have been competing for their share in the global smartphone market for the past fourteen years, with the South Korean tech giant winning most of the time. Although Apple managed to reduce the difference between their annual shipments significantly, the 10-year figures show the gap is still wide.
According to data presented by AltIndex.com, Samsung shipped almost three billion smartphones in the past decade, or 700 million more than Apple.
Samsung Shipped 33% more Smartphones than Apple and more than Xiaomi, Huawei and Vivo Combined
Samsung and Apple started their corporate battle back in 2010 when the South Korean tech giant, then an Apple supplier, released an iPhone-like product through its Galaxy lineup. Since then, the two brands have been competing for the title of the world`s largest smartphone vendor, with each holding roughly 20% of the market. Although both tech giants, headquartered in California and South Korea, have the highest-quality devices and count their users in billions, Samsung has topped Apple in smartphone shipments for years.
According to IDC`s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker survey, Samsung shipped nearly three billion smartphones in the past decade, 33% more than Apple and more than Xiaomi, Huawei, and Vivo combined. Interestingly, the South Korean tech giant created this huge sales gap despite its sales falling continually between 2014 and 2022. In 2014, one of the best years for Samsung Galaxy line sales, Samsung shipped 292.3 million of its smartphones worldwide. By the end of 2022, the company`s annual shipments dropped by 18% to 258 million.
On the other hand, Apple`s annual shipments have increased in this period. Between 2014 and 2015, iPhone sales jumped by 20% and hit 231 million units. After four years of decline and its annual sales falling to 190 million units in 2019, Apple`s smartphone sales exploded, showing the American manufacturer delivers the right combination of user experience and status symbol appeal. Since 2019, global iPhone sales jumped by 22% and hit 231.8 million last year, the highest figure the company has ever reported.
Samsung`s Market Share Dropped by 10% in a Decade, Apple`s Increased by 2%
Although Samsung has held the lion`s share in the smartphone market since the early days of Android, its market share has significantly dropped over the past ten years, primarily due to surging Chinese competitors Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo. In Q1 2024, the South Korean tech giant held 20.8% of the global smartphone market, down from 30.7% in Q1 2014.
Unlike its biggest rival, Apple saw its market share increase by 2% in this period, reaching 17.3% in the first quarter of this year. Xiaomi is now close to Apple, with a 14.1% market share in the first three months of the year, or three times more than a decade ago. Chinese manufacturers Transsion and Oppo follow with 9.9% and 8.7% market shares in 2024, respectively.
