Most popular smartphone brands in South Africa – Apple vs Samsung vs Huawei and more

Samsung may be the most popular smartphone brand in South Africa, but it trails Apple globally.

According to data from Statcounter Global Stats, Samsung sales take up just over 50% of the mobile market.

Apple is in second with a 15.88% market share, with Huawei in a close third with 14.35% of the market.

Xiaomi is in a distant fourth place, with 3.69% of the market share, followed closely by Oppo’s 3.51%.

Globally

Despite Samsungs dominance in South Africa, it has lost its crown as the dominant brand globally to Apple.

The South Korean company’s global market share of 23.77%, below Apple’s 27.84%.

Statcounter’s data is not alone in showing Apple overtaking Samsung, with estimates from research firm IDC showing that the iPhone dethroned Samsung to become the best-selling smartphone in 2023 – the first time Samsung lost the top spot since 2010.

iPhone’s estimated 235 million shipments in 2023 surpassed the 226.6 million from Samsung – which saw a double-digit slump in the year.

Although Apple has dominated the holiday quarter in recent years, the surge ahead of Samsung for a full year is weathering an industrywide slump better than others.

Apple benefited from the aggressive offers that enticed a shift towards more premium devices and was able to expand shipments despite a mild reception of the iPhone 15 in China.

“While we saw some strong growth from low-end Android players like Transsion and Xiaomi in the second half of 2023, stemming from rapid growth in emerging markets, the biggest winner is clearly Apple,” said IDC research director Nabila Popal.

“All this despite facing increased regulatory challenges and renewed competition from Huawei in China, its largest market.

“Apple’s ongoing success and resilience is in large part due to the increasing trend of premium devices, which now represent over 20% of the market.”

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