Omdia: Global smartphone shipments total 290.3 million units in the second quarter of 2024

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According to the latest Omdia smartphone shipment forecast report, shipments in the second quarter of 2024 totaled 290.3 million units, up 9.3% year-on-year and down 3.2% quarter-on-quarter compared to the previous year. The year-on-year growth rates in the previous two quarters were 11.5% and 9.3% in 1Q24 and 4Q23, respectively.

The slow growth indicates that smartphone shipments are stabilizing and reaching sustainable levels. This market trend comes after high growth from 4Q20 to 3Q21 and continuous decline in 2022. Many smartphone brands achieved double-digit growth this quarter, such as Xiaomi, vivo, Motorola, and Huawei. Transsion and Apple grew modestly, with Transsion, which previously achieved triple-digit growth, now growing at only 4.1%.

Samsung remained the largest mobile phone company in terms of shipments in the second quarter of 2024, with 53.7 million units shipped. This is a 0.7% increase from the second quarter of last year, but a 11.2% decrease from the first quarter due to seasonal factors. Samsung is facing challenges, especially in the mid-range price segment of US$250-600, which accounts for a large proportion of Samsung smartphone shipments.

Following a decline in the first quarter of this year, Apple recovered to a year-over-year growth rate of 5.6% in the second quarter. It shipped 45.6 million units, up from 43.2 million units in the second quarter of 2023, but down from 50.7 million units in the first quarter of 2024. The second quarter is typically the smallest quarter of the year, so this decline should not be interpreted as Apple struggling. Although Apple's overall shipments increased year-over-year, shipments in China declined compared to the same period last year.

“The recent smartphone market is experiencing accelerated polarization, with the mid-range market shrinking while the proportion of the low-end and high-end markets is increasing,” said Jusy Hong, senior research manager of Omdia’s smartphone research team. “As a result, while brands with a higher proportion of low-end and high-end smartphones are increasing their shipments, brands with a higher proportion of mid-range smartphone shipments are struggling.”

Xiaomi grew 27.4% year-over-year, from 33.2 million units in the second quarter of last year to 42.3 million units in the second quarter of this year. This is a slight increase of 3.7% from the previous quarter. Overall, Xiaomi seems to be recovering quickly from its long-term market share decline - its global share has slipped from 14.2% in 2021 to 12.6% in 2022 and 2023. However, Xiaomi has started the year well, accounting for 14.1% of global shipments in the first half of 2024.

vivo rose from sixth to fourth in the global shipment rankings, a significant change from the previous quarter. In the second quarter, vivo shipped 26 million units, an increase of 3 million, or 13%, from the first quarter, ahead of Transsion and OPPO. This is a 16.6% increase from 22.3 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Transsion Holdings' shipments remain relatively stable, rising slightly from 24.5 million in 2Q23 to 25.5 million in 2Q24. This is down from a peak of 30.1 million in 4Q23, suggesting that Transsion's shipments are stabilizing after a significant increase, doubling since 2022. Maintaining these levels in the long term will depend on the development of the low-end market.

“Transsion experiences significant growth in 2023 and is expected to exceed 100 million units for the first time in 2024 as it further establishes its smartphone brands (iTel, Infinix and Tecno) in emerging markets,” said Zaker Li, principal analyst for consumer electronics research at Omdia. “Transsion’s success is largely the result of a booming market for low-end devices and aggressive expansion into more emerging international markets.”

OPPO shipped 25.2 million units in the second quarter, up 1% from the second quarter but down 5.7% from the previous quarter. Although OPPO smartphone shipments faced challenges in the domestic market, the steady increase in overseas shipments led to growth in global shipments.

In the second quarter of 2024, Honor shipped 15.5 million units, up 9.9% from 14.1 million units in the second quarter of 2023. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth for Honor. However, this quarter saw a decline from the previous quarter.

Motorola maintained its strong performance with 13.5 million units shipped, up 29.2% from the second quarter. This continued growth helped Motorola move up from ninth to eighth place in smartphone shipment rankings, reclaiming that position from Huawei.

Realme's shipments increased to 12.3 million in Q2'24. This was an increase of 21.8%, or 2.2 million, from Q1'24 and 10.1, respectively. The recovery in sales in emerging markets led to an increase in overall shipments.

Despite a slight drop in ranking, Huawei is still in good growth momentum. In the second quarter of 2024, Huawei's shipments totaled 11.7 million units, down from the previous quarter. However, compared with the same period last year, this figure increased by 58.1%, the fastest growth among the top ten smartphone manufacturers. The significant recovery from the decline in 2021 was driven by consecutive quarterly growth and the launch of the Mate 60 Pro and Pura 70 series.