Apple and Samsung smartphone shipments drop in Q4 due to China competition

Apple and Samsung smartphone shipments dropped in the last three months of the year as they faced tough competition from Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor. This news comes from early data shared by the International Data Corporation (IDC) on Monday.

After two years of falling sales, the global smartphone market bounced back. Chinese companies grew quickly, selling more low-cost phones and focusing on their home country of China.

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Nabila Popal, a senior researcher at IDC, said, “We are hopeful for more growth in 2025, but new tariffs from the US government could create uncertainty in the market.”

Apple's global shipments fell by 4.1%, selling 76.9 million phones, while Samsung’s shipments dropped by 2.7%, with 51.7 million phones sold. Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor sold more phones, taking away some of the market from the bigger brands.

In 2024, Apple was still the number one smartphone brand with a market share of 18.7%, followed by Samsung at 18% and Xiaomi at 13.6%. But Apple’s shipments fell by 0.9%, and Samsung’s dropped by 1.4%. On the other hand, Xiaomi grew the most, with a 15.4% increase in the number of phones they sold.

Chinese companies together shipped 56% of all smartphones globally in the last quarter, which is the highest number ever for these brands in a single quarter. They focused on selling cheap and mid-range phones in Europe and Africa, which helped them grow.

However, IDC also found that fewer people are buying foldable phones, which had been very popular at one point. Even though companies spent a lot of money on ads and promotions, demand for these phones stayed flat. Because of this, phone makers are starting to spend less on designing foldable phones.

Anthony Scarsella, another researcher at IDC, said, “Even though many regions are still growing, the demand for foldable phones has dropped, despite strong promotions.” Smartphone makers are now shifting their focus away from foldables as interest in them continues to decline.

This shows that Chinese companies are getting stronger in the global smartphone market, while Apple and Samsung are facing more challenges.