Smartphone sales in 2024… is the market finally back?

The smartphone market is growing again after two years of decline. What’s behind this shift?

Looks like global smartphone sales bounced back in 2024 after two tough years. Samsung and Apple didn’t really grow much, but Xiaomi jumped ahead and grabbed the #3 spot. Also, expensive phones over $1000 saw the fastest growth this year.

Guess people’s phones are finally breaking down after lasting longer than expected. Feels like the same thing that happened with laptops a decade ago.

I didn’t think this would happen.

@Rye
The bump in Q4 is probably because of the iPhone 15 series, but I doubt it’ll be enough to make a massive impact.

Ari said:
@Rye
The bump in Q4 is probably because of the iPhone 15 series, but I doubt it’ll be enough to make a massive impact.

Xiaomi’s T series in Q3 helped, but their revenue is still trailing compared to brands like Oppo and Vivo.
They’ve done well expanding globally since the 2010s, but they could be doing better. They often dominate in markets where other Chinese brands don’t compete, but in places like China or India, they’re not as strong.

In China, Xiaomi isn’t super popular. In India, they face stiff competition. Check out this report.

@Zan
Not popular in China? That’s strange… Xiaomi stores are everywhere, and most gamers use their Redmi phones.

Pace said:
@Zan
Not popular in China? That’s strange… Xiaomi stores are everywhere, and most gamers use their Redmi phones.

@Zan
What’s this graph showing? Is it shipments in China or global?

Pace said:
@Zan
What’s this graph showing? Is it shipments in China or global?

It’s for shipments to customers within China. The 17% Huawei share and Samsung being absent tell a lot.

@Zan
Interesting… I rarely see people using Oppo or Vivo here in China. But yeah, I guess there are a lot of budget phones I don’t recognize on the subway.

Pace said:
@Zan
Interesting… I rarely see people using Oppo or Vivo here in China. But yeah, I guess there are a lot of budget phones I don’t recognize on the subway.

Yeah, that’s probably it. The second graph someone posted shows that outside of Apple, every other brand mostly sells cheaper phones.

But didn’t this forum keep saying nobody buys new phones anymore?

Val said:
But didn’t this forum keep saying nobody buys new phones anymore?

Yeah, I’m surprised too. I didn’t expect the market to grow again.

Val said:
But didn’t this forum keep saying nobody buys new phones anymore?

Old phones eventually stop working. Batteries wear out. People are just waiting longer to upgrade now.

In 2019, you could get a $350 phone with a quad DAC, headphone jack, and a 4K 60FPS camera with stabilization. What happened?