Global smartphone demand down despite shipment growth — IDC

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that global smartphone shipments grew 6.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024. This growth puts smartphone shipment at 285.4 million units from 267.98 million units in the same period of the previous year and marks the fourth consecutive quarter with shipment growth.

“Although this marks the fourth consecutive quarter of shipment growth and builds the momentum towards the expected recovery this year, demand has yet to come around in full and remains challenged in many markets,” IDC said.

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The report further disclosed the top five global smartphone shipments and their market shares. Samsung, which leads globally after usurping Apple, maintained its position as it ended the second quarter with 53.9 million units of shipment, up from 53.5 million units year on year, and an 18.9 percent increase in market share owing to its Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy and focus on flagships.

Apple takes second place with 15.8 percent market share, thanks to improved performance in Asia. Xiaomi landed third place with 14.8 percent, with OPPO and Vivo tied at 9 percent.

Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, noted, “While recovery is well underway with the top 5 companies all making year-over-year gains, we are seeing increasing competition amongst the leaders and a polarisation of price bands.

“As Apple and Samsung both continue to push the top of the market and benefit the most from the ongoing premiumisation trend, many leading Chinese OEMs are increasing shipments in the low end in an attempt to capture volume share amidst weak demand. As a result, the share of mid-range devices is challenged.”

“Still, there is lots of excitement in the smartphone market today thanks to higher average selling prices (ASPs) and the buzz created by Gen AI smartphones, which are expected to grow faster than any mobile innovation we have seen to date and forecast to capture 19 percent of the market with 234 million shipments this year,” she said.

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Will Wong, senior research manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific, explained, “The growth in Q2 24 continued to provide some relief to the OEMs, though it’s partly supported by a low comparison base and the overall recovery is still at a soft pace.”

“Some OEMs took a less aggressive move in 2Q24 amid the BOM cost pressure, which prompted the companies to refine the product specs or pricing to ensure profitability. Nevertheless, the second quarter is more like a prelude before more Gen AI smartphones are launched in the second half of the year, which will potentially be the next growth driver after 5G and foldables.”