Canalys: Apple leads the way in global Q4 smartphone shipments

14 January 2025
The smartphone market grew by 7% on the yearly basis.

Sort by:

jiyen235, 14 Jan 2025most people upgrade every 2-3 years, a minority upgrades ea... moreExactly.

Uet on a global scale you need to think how those ppl got their second phone - especially if its new or vurrent year model. Very few even on contract take out another phone for themselves or have the credit the last 4yrs to do so. Many were unemployed for years due to oandemic and economic unrest/state globally. Thats chsnging.

Still most people that have a second current year phone is from work and supplied by limited options off their employers contract agreement. Guess which two manufacturers are pretty much on all carriers and in just about every country,!

Apple
Samsung

    • R
    • RBX
    • fsN
    • 14 Jan 2025

    Aierlan, 14 Jan 2025I'm surprised with Transsion especially considering th... moreSouth-East Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, a couple of Eastern & Central European countries + Turkey.....Their absence from Chinese market is widely compensated.

      KondriX, 14 Jan 2025I'm pretty sure that BBK, which Vivo is part of, would... moreThe world is Global not the total population of China.

      India is quickly rising in population numbers thatll very soon topple China! Of thr target market of those that CAN buy & use phones [age 12 to 70: and of those how often they will buy another in those years being far less] is the key to understanding a populous' buying power.

      Many make the mistake that buyers and sellers that focus only in china is important. This is a Global game to be sold here - ignore favourites and think globally!

      Damsung & Apple are. And have for over a decade! Thats why they both have remained on thr top 2 positiins for so long year after year! Some quarters there is a shuffling but cannot be maintained.

      Now you see why Oppo Xiamo, and Vivo announced some models to go globally.

        Narazumono, 14 Jan 2025Flagships can last you for years. I used my S8 from 2017 un... morei used an s8 for a few years as well and the slowdown/battery issues were obvious. I'm using an S22 Ultra as well and it has suspiciously higher bugs, glitches, crashes and slowdowns. It's not BAD, but it's worse than before. I can easily see it. And battery is just horrendous now, an iPhone 13 has 20-40% better battery life in similar use cases.

          jiyen235, 14 Jan 2025most people upgrade every 2-3 years, a minority upgrades ea... moreFlagships can last you for years. I used my S8 from 2017 until 2022 when i bought the S22 Ultra which i'm using right now and after almost 3 years, it's performance is identical to when i first bought it with the battery being the only thing that got worse
          Only low end and midrangers need to be changed

            KondriX, 14 Jan 2025Well, as far as I know Vivo, Oppo, Realme, OnePlus and Iqoo... moreNah, that's gone. Realme, Oneplus and OPPO are known as the black factory in China. Vivo and IQOO are the blue factory. Even before BBK deregistered though there wasn't really any connection between OPPO and Vivo from an operational point of view. Can't think of any tech they ever shared and I can't think of a single Vivo phone that was rebranded as an OPPO phone or vice versa

              Minu, 14 Jan 2025Thanks, my friend! Also, let's not forget that people... morehmm idk man i know plenty of people with really low income who still manage to find some way to buy some good phones. Again, im just saying that if you have low income just save up and get a mid ranger instead of a low end one. Besides, the thing is, people who are ACTUALLY going to buy low end phones, don't care at all about how good the phone is lol, they just see the design and if they like it they like it lol

              damn, i used a midranger for a year and didn't really hate it tbh, i used an M31, i think that for the average person a midranger is good enough, the only reason a more expensive phone could be attractive imo is the camera system and maybe the brand value. Otherwise i disagree with you lol, midrangers are plenty competent nowadays, nice battery, "bezel less" designs, competent cameras, nice displays, they just get the job done.

              I don't mind generic phones, all i care about is how good the phone is, if the overall package is great then why not get it if you have the means to do so, yk? I think flagships are competent enough to be used for like 3 years at least, the main issue is that they get nuked HARD with updates. So if you had a 10/10 experience at launch, you'll have a 5/10 experience 3 years later. It's not fun at all. Which is why most people switch within 3 years.

              The main issue is planned obsolescence. No one speaks out against it, everything about it is silenced cus things seem better in theory than in reality. Long updates are nice and all but that just gives the manufacturer more power to nuke the phone later on if they want to. And honestly I agree with the minority, we should have those features but i don't agree with the way they go about their business, the reality is that companies are evil and people are gullible so we're going to get worse products for higher prices as time goes on. The smartphone market isn't stagnating just cus of us reaching the limits of innovation, it's stagnating cus every manufacturer seems to have understood that people aren't really that smart and don't really care about huge value of money propositions. The Apple sales further reinforce that.

              Yeah, you're right that nepo babies and some other weirdos get iPhones but i know plenty of people who live in debt and stuff and live from paycheck to paycheck yet still find a way to get the latest iPhone, that's just how the average person is i think in most places.

                Aierlan, 14 Jan 2025Because it is separate. Vivo sales include IQOO too thoughWell, as far as I know Vivo, Oppo, Realme, OnePlus and Iqoo are still part of the BBK group.

                  • M
                  • Minu
                  • ter
                  • 14 Jan 2025

                  jiyen235, 14 Jan 2025hmm idk man, low end phones to me are still not worth it. B... moreThanks, my friend!
                  Also, let's not forget that people on average who have non-persistent or minimum income, always look for low-end phones in this turbulent economy, so that's why I had to emphasize those.

                  Mid-rangers aren't any better than 7-year-old flagships today, so I refuse to make suggestions to prospective buyers. It's 2025, and I haven't seen any development besides the consistent slowing down of phones and green lines, rainbow meshes etc in AMOLED displays with cumulative updates, at least since 2020.

                  The flagship space is a little too generic, with ODM designs and skyrocketing prices, so it's easier to perceive them as boring and use an older flagship for years or settle down with a low-end. And of course, there's a loud minority here complaining about the lack of a headphone jack, MicroSD slot, IR blaster and smaller size options, so there's that.

                  And it makes sense for people to influence Apple sales in Q4, if you consider Apple's launch date and the economic gap between the average person and the businessman/nepo baby/money launderer/side hustler stereotype.

                    Minu, 14 Jan 2025Gone are BBK and Xiaomi's glory days. Their phones und... morehmm idk man, low end phones to me are still not worth it. Better to get an A35 and use it for 3 years than to get a 100 dollar phone that'll last well for maybe a year at best.

                    but interesting analysis friend!

                      Aierlan, 14 Jan 2025I'm surprised with Transsion especially considering th... morethey tapped into the potential of a market that didn't have too many competitors, Africa.

                        What to expect ? Samsung is copy of apple, 2 yeats ago I never imagined saying that. Even my, I take in consideration buying apple phone from now one.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • wrc
                          • 14 Jan 2025

                          KondriX, 14 Jan 2025I'm pretty sure that BBK, which Vivo is part of, would... moreVivo graduated from BBK as of late 2023.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 7kp
                            • 14 Jan 2025

                            KondriX, 14 Jan 2025I'm pretty sure that BBK, which Vivo is part of, would... morethen count others+vivo approximately

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • wrc
                              • 14 Jan 2025

                              OneBraincelledWunkus, 14 Jan 2025Nah mates can't you see the brand 'Others' i... moreI'll take the 'Other 1' smartphone.

                              The iPhone killer 🤣😂🤣😂😂😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • UD%
                                • 14 Jan 2025

                                1989, 14 Jan 2025It is said that bbk has split up, but i cant find a proper ... moreThis is what I could only find. Where's vivo though?

                                "https://www.gizmochina.com/2023/06/07/oneplus-oppo-realme-individual-firms/"

                                  KondriX, 14 Jan 2025I'm pretty sure that BBK, which Vivo is part of, would... moreBecause it is separate. Vivo sales include IQOO too though

                                    • M
                                    • Minu
                                    • ter
                                    • 14 Jan 2025

                                    jiyen235, 14 Jan 2025crazy how despite making basically only flagships, Apple ST... moreGone are BBK and Xiaomi's glory days. Their phones under $100 rely on eMMC, when their 2021 phones at that price, more or less, had UFS (capped at UFS 2.0 speeds, but still). Samsung, as expected, relied on abysmal specifications and minor upgrades that simply make no difference in day-to-day usage. Nokia on the other hand caught up over time, but their uncompetitive pricing in competitive markets took an uproar against them by a loud minority, not a silent majority.

                                    Only Lenovo, from Chinese brands, is doing decent with their phones, but their cheapest model (G05) made a big downgrade from a chipset with Cortex-Ax5 cores and UFS 2.2 to a dated chipset with Cortex-Ax3 cores and eMMC storage. I'm not surprised that people tend to vote with their wallets, with a passion.

                                    And Transsion's low-end phones, as usual, are simply paperweights after a year with their load of bloatware, non-existent optimization, lack of any form of updates (cumulative updates minimum) and telemetry apps.

                                    If there was any Chinese brand that attempted to do anything this year in the low end market, that would have to be Cubot Hafury (with better packaging) and Honor (PLS TFTs, but still).

                                      jiyen235, 14 Jan 2025crazy how despite making basically only flagships, Apple ST... moreI'm surprised with Transsion especially considering they don't even sell in China at all so they managed that without selling in the country with the largest market

                                        • M
                                        • Minu
                                        • ter
                                        • 14 Jan 2025

                                        rizki1, 14 Jan 2025if that is your main phone.. big respect to you..And mine is from 2017, and it's my daily driver. Lol.

                                          2 of 3