The global smartphone market booked annual sales growth in 2024 for the first time since 2021, Counterpoint Research indicated, though it noted largely flat figures from market leaders Samsung and Apple.

In preliminary global sell-through figures, the analyst house highlighted growth of 4 per cent year-on-year, with significant increases from Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei and Lenovo’s Motorola.

The top five vendors by volume were unchanged from 2023. Samsung led the way with a 19 per cent share, followed by Apple on 18 per cent. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, respectively completed the line-up.

Xiaomi’s unit shipments were up 12 per cent, a trend Counterpoint Research credited to the Chinese vendor’s “portfolio realignment, premium push and aggressive expansion activities”.

Oppo booked the greatest decline in the top five with an 8 per cent drop, though the analyst company highlighted “stronger momentum” from it by the end of the year.

Intelligence issues
Samsung booked a small increase in volume, with Counterpoint Research noting its flagship S24 series had been well received in the US and Western Europe.

By contrast, Apple’s iPhone 16 series, released in September, received a “mixed response”.

Counterpoint Research claimed this was “partly due to a lack of availability of Apple Intelligence at launch”.

It noted the US vendor’s sales grew strongly in some “non-core markets”, but overall units were down 2 per cent.

Counterpoint Research senior analyst Ivan Lam added although iPhone sell-through was down “consumers are pivoting to Apple’s ultra-high end, helping to offset some of the declines”.

While the company noted 2024 brought generative AI to smartphones, it highlighted this was generally limited to the premium segment.

However, it expects 90 per cent of smartphones priced above $250 would be capable of offering the technology by 2028.

For 2025, it expects another 4 per cent growth in global smartphone sell-through, though predicted this would be outstripped by revenue growth as ASPs continue to increase.