Research firm IDC's latest report indicates that Apple's smartphone iPhone shipments in the first quarter were 50.1 million units, a decrease of 9.6% compared to the 55.4 million units in the same period last year. Among the top five smartphone brands, Apple experienced the largest year-over-year decline in the first quarter, while Samsung reclaimed the sales championship.
On April 15th, before the US stock market opened, Apple's share price fell by nearly 1%. So far this year, the company's stock has accumulated a decline of over 8%. Earlier this year, Apple's market value was surpassed by Microsoft, and currently, Nvidia is catching up to Apple's market value.
IDC data shows that the global smartphone shipments in the first quarter grew by 7.8% year-over-year, reaching 289.4 million units, marking three consecutive quarters of shipment growth.
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The company stated that despite macroeconomic challenges, the shipment data for the first quarter strongly suggests that the smartphone market is on the path to recovery.
It is noteworthy that, according to IDC data, the Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi made a strong comeback from the decline it experienced over the past two years, securing a spot in the top three. Transsion and OPPO also made it into the top five.
In the first quarter, Samsung's smartphone shipments were 60.1 million units, almost unchanged from the previous year, accounting for 20.8% of the global smartphone market share. Apple's iPhone market share dropped from 20.7% a year ago to 17.3%. In 2023, Apple's sales volume surpassed Samsung for the first time to become the global smartphone sales champion.
Xiaomi's shipments in the first quarter increased by 33.8% to 40.8 million units, with a market share of 14.1%, ranking third; Transsion and OPPO's shipments were 28.5 million and 25.2 million units, respectively, with market shares of 9.9% and 8.7%, ranking fourth and fifth. Notably, Transsion's shipments in the first quarter surged by 84.9%, while OPPO's shipments declined by 8.5%. Transsion owns the smartphone brands Tecno, Itel, and Infinix.
The decline in Apple's iPhone market share in China has directly affected the company's overall global shipments. According to forecast data from research firm Counterpoint last month, Apple's iPhone sales in China declined by 24% year-over-year in the first six weeks of this year.
Zhu Jiatuo, a senior analyst at Canalys, told reporters from Yicai that the first half of the year is Apple's off-season for sales, with the first quarter's sales performance being less than ideal, and the challenges in the second quarter are expected to be even greater, with a decline in year-over-year sales.
Zhu Jiatuo believes that the Apple iPhone has already passed its peak period in China. Since the second half of last year, Apple has faced more intense competition in China.As iPhone sales decline, last month, Apple opened its eighth flagship store in Shanghai, with CEO Tim Cook personally attending the opening ceremony. He did not make public comments on the future prospects of Apple's iPhone sales, which the market is closely watching.
At the same time, Apple is placing a big bet on AI, hoping to capture a larger market share by applying AI in the consumer end of smartphones. The company is expected to announce more strategic deployments regarding AI at its annual developer conference, WWDC, which will be held from June 10th to 14th.
Last week, there were reports that Apple is accelerating the development of the M4 series of AI chips, which are expected to be equipped in new Mac devices to be released by the end of this year. Boosted by this news, Apple's stock price hit its highest single-day increase in a year last Thursday.
During his visit to China last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasized that for Apple's supply chain, there is no place more important than China. However, Apple is still actively seeking diversification of its supply chain.