Trendforce: Smartphone production improves in Q1, but may decline in following quarter

Trendforce posted a report about the smartphone production in Q1 2024, revealing a stunning 18.7% yearly growth with a total shipment of 296 million units.

The growth is partially due to the low production in early 2023. Expectations are that the next quarter (April-June 2024) will once again see a decline in production numbers.

Samsung led the smartphone market in Q1 2024, with 59.5 million manufactured units, followed by Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo (including OnePlus and Realme), Transsion (Infinix, Tecno, iTel) and vivo. These brands account for 80% of the global smartphone market, with Samsung alone having 20% of the whole share.

The market strategy from 2023, in which companies pushed older stock and held back on launching new devices to clear inventory, is affecting the comparison data with the past few months. Nevertheless, Trendforce pointed out that Xiaomi is past the point of having inventory issues and has managed to increase investment in emerging markets.

Oppo's sales suffered on the domestic scene in China, where Honor emerged as the top manufacturer. However, the maker resolved patent issues with Nokia and is now able to sell its products in Europe. A return to the German market is set for the second half of the year.