Apple has taken over Samsung to turn into the highest smartphone provider on this planet, a primary for the Cupertino firm.

In keeping with analytics firm IDC, Apple shipped 234.6 million smartphones in 2023, in comparison with Samsung’s 226.6 million. Xiaomi is in third place with 145.9 million shipped.

Apple surged into primary spot due to an especially profitable closing quarter of 2023, through which it shipped 80.5 million smartphones, in comparison with Samsung’s 53 million, and Xiaomi’s 40.7 million. Apple was additionally the one smartphone maker within the high three to attain progress this yr.

Apple’s outcomes present resilience for the corporate’s smartphone enterprise, as they have been achieved in opposition to a reasonably poor macroeconomic backdrop through which total smartphone shipments declined 3.2% year-over-year. IDC’s analysis director Nabila Popal claims that is largely as a consequence of Apple’s fast progress within the rising markets, in addition to the “rising development of premium gadgets, which now characterize over 20% of the market, fueled by aggressive trade-in presents and interest-free financing plans.”

Regardless of being among the many largest smartphone producers for over a decade, Apple has by no means been within the high spot on a yearly foundation. The corporate entered the race when it launched the iPhone again in 2007, when the highest smartphone producer globally was Nokia. Since then, Samsung spent more often than not within the first place, with Apple battling the likes of Huawei and Xiaomi for the quantity two spot.