Daily Interaction: 5G Smartphone Report for the First Quarter of 2024

The 5G smartphone market continues to heat up. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's 5G mobile phone shipments reached 56.43 million units in the first quarter, accounting for 83.7% of the same period. Daily Interactive Big Data continues to pay attention to the domestic smartphone market, and through statistical analysis of the number of activated smartphone devices, reflects market changes from the perspective of use. Daily Interactive Big Data Insights found that as of the first quarter of this year, 5G mobile phones accounted for 61%, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%, and an increase of 15.4% from the end of 2023. The 5G smartphone market is "spring-like".

Android "advances", iOS "retreats", Meizu returns to the public eye

In terms of sub-brands, major brands were more active in the first quarter of 2024, with significant market performance and rankings. The iPhone continues to lead the 5G market as a whole, but its market share has shrunk significantly compared to the 33.29% market share at the end of last year. In contrast, the market share lost by the iPhone was quickly divided up by many Android brands.

Among them, the leading Android models have obvious advantages. Xiaomi, Huami, OV not only continue to be on the list, but also have a certain increase in market share. Among them, OPPO surpassed vivo and ranked second in the overall brand market share ranking of 5G mobile phones, leading a number of Android brands; Honor and Huawei's rankings have not changed compared to the end of 2023, but the gap in market share between the two has further narrowed, and Huawei has achieved a market share increase of 14.37%. Samsung ranked eighth this quarter with its strategic adjustments in models and prices, up one place from the end of 2023. Surprisingly, Meizu, which has been absent for a long time, has made it to the top 10 list of 5G mobile phone brands in this quarter and has returned to the public eye. Next, you will see Meizu's outstanding performance in more subdivided projects in this article.

iPhone 15 series squeezed into the top ten popular models, OPPO led the Android models

Focusing on the TOP20 list of popular 5G mobile phones in the first quarter, compared with the data at the end of 2023, iPhone13 and iPhone12 are firmly ranked first and second with high cost performance. After half a year of continuous precipitation, the iPhone15 series finally has two models squeezed into the top ten, namely iPhone15 Pro Max (eighth place) and iPhone15 Pro (tenth place). Outside the top ten, OPPO A58 performed stably, leading a group of domestic Android models.

Daily interactive big data insights found that in the ranking of new market share of popular 5G mobile phone brands in the first quarter, the growth rate of iPhone narrowed; Honor made an effort and ranked among the top three in the list with a new market share of 12.46%, two places higher than in the fourth quarter of 2023. In terms of brand additions, Meizu's performance was still surprising, ranking ninth. At the beginning of this year, Meizu suddenly announced its withdrawal from the traditional mobile phone industry and would no longer produce smartphones. As soon as the news was announced, it immediately triggered a wave of "memories" on the Internet; then on February 29, Meizu released its first open AI terminal Meizu 21 PRO at a special event, and launched a number of new AI functions. Meizu also announced the details of the 'All in AI' strategic plan, which attracted widespread attention from both inside and outside the industry.

Xiaomi, Huami, OV are all on the list, and Honor has the most popular models

Daily Interactive Big Data Insights found that in terms of the new market share of 5G Android phones, the performance of major models was relatively stable, with Huawei, Honor, and OPPO continuing to lead the top three in this list. The Honor series continued to work hard, accounting for four out of ten on the list this quarter, becoming the biggest winner of this list.

Honor series leads the 45+ market, OV dominates the 25-44 year old middle-class population

In this quarter's Android mobile phone market, the market share of major brands in different age groups has further dispersed, and niche brands such as Meizu have more opportunities. Among them, realme's market share in the 35-45+ population has further increased; Meizu has jumped out of the ranks of Others and is loved by audiences of all ages. As for the top brands, compared with the end of 2023, Xiaomi has replaced vivo as the favorite brand of the 18-24 age group; Xiaomi and Honor have further expanded their shares in various age groups.

In terms of city distribution, Xiaomi and Honor performed outstandingly in the first quarter, with their market shares increasing across the board; Huawei continued to dominate first-tier and new first-tier cities, but the market share gap between it and the second-ranked brand further narrowed; OPPO replaced vivo to become the most popular brand in second-tier, third-tier and below cities.

The long-tail market for 4G mobile phones is still there, with people in fourth-tier and lower-tier cities becoming the largest stock

As time comes to the first quarter of 2024, the 5G smartphone market is in full swing with new models emerging frequently and gradually gaining market advantages, but the existing 4G market should not be underestimated. Daily Interactive Big Data has conducted insights into the 4G terminal device population that is still active in the market in the first quarter, and found that compared with the male user-dominated 5G market, the female group has a larger share in the 4G market with a share of 52%. In terms of age distribution, people aged 24 and below use the least 4G mobile phones, while people aged 45+ use the most; at the same time, in the 35-44 age group, the user scale of 4G and 5G is comparable.

Perhaps due to their reliance on or requirements for device functions, or perhaps due to their sensitivity to price, more users in fourth-tier and lower-tier cities are staying in the 4G mobile phone era. It seems that if major manufacturers want to continue to leverage the 4G market transformation, cost-effectiveness may still be the first choice for breakthroughs.

Looking at the domestic 5G mobile phone market in the first quarter, the narrowing growth of iPhone has released more industry space. In addition to the fiercely competitive leading brands, AI technology innovation may become an important variable for niche brands to stir up the market structure. We are looking forward to what kind of growth vitality the domestic smartphone market can show after the "golden March and silver April" new product peak season, and Daily Interactive Big Data will continue to pay attention to you.