Based on two recent estimates by IDC and Counterpoint Research, Apple appears to be lagging in the smartphone market, but the trend could see an uptick in the next quarter. While the global smartphone market grew by 6 percent in the second quarter, Apple saw the same level of performance year-over-year. Although the dual reports are consistent in their estimates, both boast a different approach.
Apple lagging behind worldwide smartphone shipments, but the next quarter could change the results
According to the research conducted by IDC, global smartphone sales increased by 6.5 percent, which means that the market sold over 285.4 million units. However, Apple’s shipments saw little to no change in iPhone shipments, with only 1.5 percent growth in the same time frame. There is a possibility that the lack of design variations and new features was the reason why the sales have been consistent. Check out what the report has to say:
The preliminary market results show that Samsung captured the top position in 2Q24 with 18.9% share of shipments, thanks to a strategic focus on its flagships and a strong AI strategy. Apple finished the quarter in second place with 15.8% share with improved performance in China and other key regions. The leading companies both saw modest growth year over year.
While estimates from IDC are pretty close to Counterpoint Research at 6 percent market growth year-over-year, the latter points that iPhone shipments fell by 1 percent during the same time period. The difference in the results is marginal but considering Apple sells a lot of iPhone, even a single percent decrease could reflect in millions.
The top five brands remained the same as in earlier quarters. Samsung retained the top spot in Q2 2024, helped by strong sustained sales of the AI-focused Galaxy S24 series and an early refresh of the popular Galaxy A series, whose models emerged as the bestsellers in entry-level to mid-price bands. Samsung also led the sales of GenAI-capable Android smartphones and is expected to further capitalise on it with its new-generation foldables.
Apple’s global sales remained flat but recorded strong YoY growth in Europe and Latin America, which compensated the low upgrade rates in the US and share loss in China following Huawei’s rise. However, Apple saw improvement in sales in China during the 618 shopping festival where it offered attractive discounts.
Though the results are marginal, it seems that Apple is having a hard time competing against the market. However, the company is expected to show promising results in the next quarter, all thanks to its next-gen iPhone models and the newly announced AI features. The research firms state that Apple Intelligence and other AI features could allow iPhones to perform better in the third quarter of this year.
Note that Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which means that only a handful of users from the total pool of devices will be able to take advantage of the new utilities. Other than this, Apple will also release its new iPhone 16 lineup in the coming months, which could come with exclusive AI features, which the company did not announce on stage at WWDC. So far the numbers are low for Apple but the next quarter could prove to be quite different.
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