Samsung maintained its leadership in the smartphone market in the first quarter of the year and was the only manufacturer in the top 5 to experience a market share increase compared to the previous quarter. Although other companies, including Apple, lost market share this quarter, Samsung managed to successfully exit the quarter thanks to its new flagship phones.
The new market data published by TrendForce shows that Samsung is the leader of the smartphone market with a 24.6% share in the first quarter of 2023. While its share increased by 5.5% compared to the previous quarter, there was a decrease of 16.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Apple was the second largest manufacturer with a market share of 21.3% in the first quarter. Compared to the previous quarter, the market share decreased by 27.5% and compared to the same period of the previous year, the market share decreased by 11.9%. The two tech giants were followed by Oppo (10.7% market share), Xiaomi (10.6%) and Vivo (8.0%).
TrendForceGalaxy S23 series came to the rescue of Samsung
It should be noted that due to the global economic crisis, all major smartphone manufacturers experienced a decline in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of the previous year. In fact, when we look at the previous two quarters, we can see that Samsung has performed quite well.
From the global market perspective, it is estimated that the worldwide smartphone production volume in the first quarter of the year was only 250 million units. This is the lowest quarter production since 2014, and the sum of all manufacturers is 19.5% less than a year ago.
Samsung was the only manufacturer to gain market share this quarter, with sales of 61.5 million units, largely due to the Galaxy S23 series. TrendForce estimates that the Galaxy S23 helped the company in the first three months of 2023, but smartphone production will drop by around 10% in Q2 as demand for new models slackens.
We will see together whether things will get better or worsen in the continuation of 2023. Samsung is expected to introduce two new foldable phones at the end of July, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Z Flip 5. But time will tell if they will help the company strengthen its position in the market.
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