Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024, a preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows.
While the industry is not completely out of the woods, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets, this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway, IDC said in a statement. “As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter.”
IDC expects these two companies to maintain their hold on the high end of the market. “The resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as notable gains from Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo will likely have both OEMs looking for areas to expand and diversify,” it said. “As the recovery progresses, we’re likely to see the top companies gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning.”
Smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2023 stood at 268.5 million units.
Three out of five top five smartphone makers in the world are based in China.
