The research company Counterpoint has observed that the smartphone sector has finally seen yearly growth after two consecutive years of decline. It said that 2023 was the worst year in the previous decade, but thanks to improvements in the macroeconomic landscape, the sector returned to growth in 2024.
“2024 was a year of recovery and normalization after a difficult 2023. Smartphones continue to be an essential product, pivotal to people’s daily lives, and as macroeconomic pressures softened, the market started showing signs of recovery from Q4 2023 and has now grown for five consecutive quarters,” said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint. “Almost all markets showed growth, led by Europe, China and Latin America.”
Between 2022 and 2024, the winner in terms of growth was Xiaomi, which saw 12% year-over-year growth. This success was put down to a portfolio realignment, a push into premium devices, and aggressive expansion activities. The worst performer was Oppo, which contracted 8% year-over-year.
The top five players in the smartphone market are Samsung (19%), Apple (18%), Xiaomi (14%), Oppo (8%), and Vivo (8%). The Others category currently sits at 33%, up from 30% in 2022.
Aside from sharing information about the sector's growth, Counterpoint also shared a prediction related to generative AI on mobile devices. It said 2024 saw the launch of AI smartphones but that they were limited to the premium sector. It predicts that by 2028, the technology will also be widely present in the mid-range segment, with nine out of ten smartphones priced at about $250 being AI-capable.
Hopefully, the segment will be able to keep up this growth in the coming years to get back to some sort of normalcy since the world was hit by COVID-19 and then high inflation.
6 Comments - Add comment