The global shipment of phones dropped by 7.8 percent year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, released on April 15, 2024. This decline caused Apple to lag behind, while Samsung led the market.
"As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands," Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said.
While Apple had captured the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter.
