Apple Loses Smartphone Crown To Samsung As iPhone Shipments Dip 10%
An Apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it couldn’t keep the competitors at bay. The tech giant slipped from its position as the world’s top smartphone seller in Q1 — with its global market share dropping to 21%. As a result, South Korean goliath Samsung reclaimed its throne as the No.1 smartphone maker worldwide, edging Apple with a 23% market share after briefly forfeiting the spot to Apple last quarter.
- iPhone shipments declined by 10%, contrasting with a 7.8% uptick in global smartphone shipments — while Samsung phone sales saw a modest 1% decrease.
- Low-cost Chinese competitors like Xiaomi and Transsion gained market share and grew faster than the two phone giants — with impressive sales increases of 33.8% and 84.9%, respectively.
Can AI save? Apple’s announcement to integrate AI technology into its iPhone and Mac products sparked a $112B rally — driving its stock up by 4.3% for its strongest showing in a year. These innovations are Apple’s bet to tackle sluggish growth, with Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan expressing confidence in a potential comeback, stating to Bloomberg, “Investors have historically underestimated Apple’s gross margins and it appears that it is happening again.”
