Emerging as two leading brands in the global smartphone market, Apple’s shipments increased by 22% over 10 years, while Samsung’s declined by 33%. Is their market gap narrowing?
In 2024, Apple and Samsung emerged as the two dominant smartphone brands worldwide. Global smartphone sales, which reached 1.23 billion units, have shown resilience despite inflation and slowing consumer demand. The brands accounted for approximately 40% of these sales.
While Samsung maintained its lead in total shipments, Apple has significantly narrowed the gap, signalling a major shift in the market dynamics over the last decade. Data from Stocklytics reveals that Apple’s iPhone shipments have increased by 22% over the past ten years, whereas Samsung’s have fallen by 33%.
For over a decade, Apple and Samsung have been locked in competition for the world’s largest smartphone vendor title. Although both companies boast impressive products and user bases in the billions, Samsung had been the dominant player for much of that time. However, the gap between the two companies has reportedly decreased in recent years. But why?
Apple’s strategy of offering a streamlined product range and maintaining a premium pricing model has driven its growth. Meanwhile, Samsung, which once dominated the budget smartphone market, has shifted its focus towards high-end devices like the Z series and Galaxy S models.
This shift, combined with the rise of Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, has eroded Samsung’s position in regions where it once led with more affordable options.
Apple, on the other hand, has benefited from strong brand loyalty, longer upgrade cycles, and continuous software support, keeping customers loyal to its ecosystem. The company has also seen significant growth in emerging markets such as India, further bolstering its sales.
Despite a 10% year-on-year (YoY) drop in iPhone shipments in 2024, Apple still shipped 207 million units, up 22% from 2014, when it shipped 169 million units. This represents an additional 38 million iPhones compared to a decade ago.
Samsung, however, saw a sharp decline in shipments, with a 33% decrease over the same period. In 2024, the company shipped 280 million smartphones, a drop of 115 million units compared to 2014, highlighting its struggle to maintain market share in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Thus, the gap between Samsung and Apple has been steadily closing. In 2022, Samsung shipped 260 million smartphones, a 35% drop from 2014, while Apple shipped 232 million iPhones, bringing the gap down to just 28 million units—the smallest difference in years. Three years prior, the gap stood at 100 million units; in 2014, it was a staggering 225 million.
By 2023, the gap widened again to 39 million units, and in 2024, it nearly doubled to 73 million units, underscoring Apple’s continued gains as Samsung’s shipments shrink.