Top 10 best-selling smartphones in the world: all from Apple and Samsung

Forbes

2024-05-07 15:18Posted on the official account of Forbes Shanghai

文 | John Koetsier

Counterpoint Research recently released a report on the world's top 10 best-selling mobile phones: the top 10 best-selling models are all from Apple and Samsung, and the two are almost evenly matched.

THE WORLD'S BEST-SELLING SMARTPHONES IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 IMAGE SOURCE: COUNTERPOINT

As of now, the expensive Apple Pro series has accounted for half of the total iPhone sales this year, and in 2023, this proportion is only 24%. According to Counterpoint, not only the Pro series is performing well, but also the Max series, Apple's luxury model, is no slouch, and there are signs that people's desire for large-screen smartphones is expanding.

Here are the top 10 best-selling smartphones in the world in Q1 2024 and their percentage of total sales:

• 1

  iPhone 15 Pro Max: 4.4%

• 2

  iPhone 15: 4.3%

• 3

  iPhone 15 Pro: 3.7%

• 4

  iPhone 14: 1.9%

• 5

  Galaxy S24 Ultra: 1.9%

• 6

  Galaxy A15 5G: 1.5%

• 7

  Galaxy A54: 1.4%

• 8

  iPhone 15 Plus: 1.3% 

• 9

  Galaxy S24: 1.0%

• 10

  Galaxy A34: 1.0%

Apple also topped the best-selling list in the same period last year.

At a time when Samsung has replaced Apple as the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer by shipment, its high-end model, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, is not to be outdone.

"The S24 series' strong performance is the result of Samsung's proactive updates and efforts in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology," Counterpoint said. The S24 series is the first smartphone on the market to introduce GenAI's features and capabilities, allowing users to create unique content and experience a new level of interaction with their smartphones.

But choosing a larger, better-performing, and more expensive phone often comes with drawbacks: consumers have a longer lifespan of their phones, and the cycle of iterative replacement slows down. For Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone makers, this means that even as unit costs rise, sales will decrease each year.

But despite this, the global smartphone market saw a 6% increase in transaction volume in the first quarter of 2024, with nearly 300 million units shipped and a record profit, according to a report released by Counterpoint three days ago.

低端及平价机型市场仍然可观： 苹果iPhone 14 位列全球第四大畅销机型，三星Galaxy A34 、 A54 、 A15 5G 、 S24 与 S24 Ultra 一起跻身前十。

With smartphone sales struggling, Apple is turning its attention to better, more valuable services that people buy whether they buy a new phone or not. In Apple's most recent quarterly earnings report, its services revenue beat expectations of $23.1 billion to $23.9 billion, while iPhone sales in the quarter reached $46 billion, in line with expectations.

But the flatness is cause for concern, especially given that Apple's sales of new phones in the United States, a traditionally strong market, fell to a six-year low last quarter.

View original image 73K

•