Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Grew 6.4% in 2024, Despite Macro Challenges

January 22, 2025 | IDC

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According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker , global smartphone shipments increased 2.4% year-over-year (YoY) to 331.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024 (4Q24). This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of shipment growth, closing the whole year with 6.4% growth and 1.24 billion shipments, marking a strong recovery after two challenging years of decline. We expect the market to continue growing in 2025, albeit at a slower pace, as refresh cycles continue growing and pent-up demand is fulfilled.

“The strong growth witnessed in 2024 proves the resilience of the smartphone market as it occurred despite lingering macro challenges, forex concerns in emerging markets, ongoing inflation, and lukewarm demand,” said Nabila Popal, senior research director for Worldwide Client Devices, IDC. “Vendors successfully adjusted their strategies to drive growth by focusing on promotions, launching devices in multiple price segments, interest-free financing plans, and aggressive trade-ins—fueling premiumization and boosting low-end devices—especially in China and emerging markets. While we remain optimistic about continued growth in 2025, the threat of new and increased tariffs from the new US administration has elevated uncertainty across the industry, driving some players to seek preventative measures to mitigate risks; however, thus far, the impact has been minimal.”

While Apple and Samsung maintained the top two positions in Q4 and for the year, both companies witnessed YoY declines, and their shares shrunk thanks to the super aggressive growth of Chinese vendors this year—who drove the overall market by focusing on low-end devices, rapid expansion and development in China. Outside of Apple and Samsung, Xiaomi came in third for the quarter and the year, with the highest YoY growth rate among the Top 5 players. Transsion placed fourth but tied with vivo for the quarter and with OPPO for the year as competition intensified between the three.

“This past quarter was particularly remarkable for the largest Chinese smartphone vendors: Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Honor, Huawei, Lenovo, realme, Transsion, TCL, and ZTE. They achieved a historic milestone as they shipped the highest combined volume ever in a quarter, representing 56% of the global smartphone shipments in Q4,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for EMEA Client Devices, IDC. “While their core markets remain China and Asia, these brands are rapidly expanding their footprint throughout Europe and Africa, driven by the strong performance of their low-end and mid-range devices. Notably, Huawei stands apart, with most of its shipments in the high-end and premium segments, underscoring its distinct market positioning in China.”

"Despite the continued growth across several regions, we have seen a decreased demand for foldables in the market, despite intensified promotions and marketing,” said Anthony Scarsella, research director for Client Devices, IDC. "Vendors have started shifting R&D away from foldables as consumer interest remains flat. Moreover, numerous vendors are prioritizing new AI advancements at the expense of foldables as AI is increasingly featured on more devices, particularly at the market's upper echelon thanks to GenAI.”