Driven by improving consumer sentiment after a disastrous 2023, the smartphone market grew 4% worldwide in 2024, with Xiaomi leading growth and premium smartphones driving higher revenues.
The global smartphone market rebounded in 2024, growing 4% year-on-year (YoY), following the weakest sales in a decade in 2023, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. The recovery was driven by improving consumer sentiment and macroeconomic conditions, marking the end of two consecutive years of decline.
Brand-wise, Samsung, with a 19% market share, maintained its position as the market leader, bolstered by the strong performance of its S24 series and A-series smartphones, particularly in Western Europe and the USA. It witnessed a 1% YoY rise in sales.
Apple, with an 18% share, ranked second despite mixed reactions to its iPhone 16 series. The lack of Apple Intelligence at launch impacted its reception, although the brand continued to grow in non-core markets such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The sales fell by 2% in 2024, compared to 2023, however.
Xiaomi experienced the fastest growth of 12% YoY among the top five, driven by its premium strategy, portfolio reshuffling, and aggressive expansion. OPPO saw a decline in sales but held onto the fourth spot with an 8% share, with stronger momentum towards the year’s end.
vivo rounded out the top five, achieving strong results in India and China, where it ranked as the leading OEM by year’s end. Despite this, competition from rapidly expanding challenger brands like Huawei, HONOR, and Motorola reduced the share of the top five players.
“2024 was a year of recovery and normalisation after a difficult 2023. Smartphones continue to be an essential product, pivotal to people’s daily lives, and as macroeconomic pressures softened, the market started showing signs of recovery from Q4 2023 and has now grown for five consecutive quarters. Almost all markets showed growth, led by Europe, China and Latin America,” noted Counterpoint’s Research Director Tarun Pathak, highlighting the market trends.
The year also witnessed the introduction of GenAI to smartphones, initially limited to premium models. By 2028, 90% of smartphones priced above $250 are expected to be GenAI-capable.
While volumes may not return to pre-COVID levels, the premiumisation trend is expected to drive higher revenues. In fact, sales of ultra-premium smartphones priced above $1000 grew the fastest in 2024.
Counterpoint forecasts 8% revenue growth in 2025, surpassing the 4% expected volume growth.