Samsung's status as the global leader in smartphone market that it held since 2010 was taken over by Apple in 2023. Apple, with the sales of roughly 234.6 million iPhones, became the most-shipped smartphone worldwide, as outlined in a Tuesday report by International Data Group.

This marked a new high for Apple, which achieved an unprecedented market share of 20.1% with the iPhone. Samsung, just before its scheduled Wednesday launch of the speculated Galaxy S24 phone series during Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, suffered this setback.

The prior instance when Samsung didn't hold the leading spot in smartphone sales was marked by Nokia being at the top. At that time, Apple hadn't made it to the top five, states Engadget.

Over the years, Apple and Samsung have been at odds for the leading position, although until now, Samsung maintained the yearly shipments title, even though Apple managed to lead a few quarterly shipments. Apple launched the 15th iPhone series in September the previous year.

A potential revival of the smartphone market has been projected by the research firm IDC, despite the decline of 3.2% year over year in worldwide smartphone shipments, dropping to 1.17 billion units in 2023, a ten-year low. With the second half of the year experiencing more growth than expected, an anticipated upturn in 2024 seems very likely.

Companies like Transsion, Xiaomi, and Apple saw significant growth in 2023's second half, courtesy of burgeoning emerging markets. IDC's Worldwide Tracker team's research director Nabila Popal accredited Apple's victory to high consumer demand for premium devices despite stiff regulatory challenges and resurgent competition from Huawei in China, Apple's largest market.

With emerging brands introducing competitive devices, and the anticipated comeback of China-based Huawei undeterred by U.S. sanctions, a captivating period for the smartphone industry is expected, as Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility, and Consumer Device Trackers hinted in an IDC report.