Global Premium Smartphones
Apple took the top spot in the global market of premium smartphones costing US$600 or more per unit in the wholesale market last year.
Apple enjoyed a 75 percent share of the global premium smartphone market as of last year, said market research firm Counterpoint Research on March 22. During this period, its sales volume increased by 6 percent year on year, accounting for more than half of the total sales volume in the market.
“Apple could have grown further if there had been no disruptions to the supply of the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone Pro Max during the peak season last year,” Counterpoint Research said. “In addition, Apple benefited from the fall of Huawei in China.”
During the same period, Samsung Electronics finished second with a market share of 16 percent. Its sales volume declined 5 percent year over year. Counterpoint Research believes that Samsung Electronics failed to penetrate the Chinese market. “Samsung missed an opportunity to go into the Chinese market because of its weak position in China,” the market researcher said. “Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy S22 series later compared to the release of the Galaxy S21 series in 2021. This affected Samsung Electronics’ sales performances.”
However, positive evaluations were given to the sales performances of Samsung Electronics’ foldable phones last year. “The growth of Samsung Electronics’ foldable smartphones made the future of the Korean smartphone giant brighter,” Counterpoint Research said. Previously, Samsung Electronics launched new foldable smartphones such as the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Galaxy Fold 4 to the world in August of last year. Samsung Electronics' global foldable smartphone market share is over 80 percent, analysts say.
Chinese companies showed mixed results. Huawei’s and Xiaomi's premium smartphones ranked third and fourth, down 44 percent and 40 percent, respectively, from the previous year. On the other hand, Honor expanded its Chinese market share with the Magic series and achieved some positive results despite its small fanbase. In addition, many Chinese companies saw a decrease in their flagship model sales due to the sluggish Chinese market.
Apple also showed an edge in terms of operating system distribution in the premium market. Its operating system iOS accounted for three-quarters of all smartphone sales in the premium market.