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That result does not mean Samsung won the 2024 calendar year. Omdia’s later annual estimate put Apple narrowly ahead for all of 2024.
What the headline actually means
“First smartphone shipments of 2024” is an ambiguous phrase. The underlying result concerns worldwide first-quarter shipments: the three-month period from January 1 through March 31, 2024. It is not a claim about the whole year, a particular country, or phones sold directly to consumers.
Shipment estimates generally count devices moving into distribution channels such as carriers, retailers and distributors. They are different from consumer sell-through, activations, revenue, profit or installed-base size.
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The Q1 numbers
IDC’s preliminary global tracker reported the following figures:
| Vendor | Q1 2024 shipments | Global share | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung | 60.1 million | 20.8% | First |
| Apple | 50.1 million | 17.3% | Second |
| Difference | About 10.0 million | 3.5 percentage points | Samsung lead |
IDC estimated total worldwide smartphone shipments at 289.4 million units, up 7.8% from a year earlier. The figures are preliminary estimates, and historical tracker data can be revised. IDC’s release provides the underlying table and market-growth estimate.
Why another tracker shows different totals
Omdia’s contemporaneous estimate was close on the vendor ranking but not identical: 60.4 million Samsung shipments, 50.7 million Apple shipments and 300.4 million units for the industry. Omdia put Samsung at about 20% share and Apple at about 17%.
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Those differences do not necessarily indicate an error. Trackers can use different channel coverage, sell-in or sell-through treatments, vendor-group definitions, regional models, collection cutoffs and revision schedules. The consistent conclusion is that Samsung led Apple in global Q1 volume.
Why Samsung moved ahead in Q1
Samsung had a new flagship at the start of the year
Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 series in January 2024. IDC associated Samsung’s return to the top position with its first-quarter performance and the new flagship cycle. The launch gave Samsung fresh inventory and marketing momentum during a quarter when Apple was between major iPhone launches. The timing is an important explanation, but shipment data alone cannot prove how many units the S24 line caused Samsung to ship.
Apple’s strongest launch effect was in the previous quarter
Apple introduced the iPhone 15 family in September 2023. Its launch-quarter effect was therefore concentrated in late 2023, helping Apple take first place in Q4 2023. By Q1 2024, the post-holiday period and the normal stage of Apple’s product cycle made a sequential decline in shipments unsurprising. IDC’s historical account describes the quarter-to-quarter reversal between the two companies. IDC’s timeline provides that context.
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The overall market was recovering
IDC’s 7.8% year-over-year growth estimate—and Omdia’s separate 11.6% estimate—both point to a larger market than a year earlier. Xiaomi, Transsion, Huawei, Honor, vivo and other Chinese brands also grew, so Samsung’s lead cannot be interpreted simply as Apple’s lost units transferring to Samsung.
Shipments are not the same as sales or financial success
Samsung’s higher shipment count establishes a volume lead for the quarter. It does not establish that Samsung:
- sold more phones to end customers;
- generated more smartphone revenue;
- earned more operating profit;
- led the premium-price segment;
- had a larger installed base or stronger customer loyalty.
Apple’s portfolio is concentrated more heavily in premium-priced devices, while Samsung ships across premium, mid-range and entry-level categories. A unit ranking therefore cannot be converted into a revenue or profit ranking without additional financial and segment data.
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- LIVE FAST. CHARGE FASTER: Focus more on the moment and less on your battery percentage with Galaxy A17 5G. Super Fast Charging powers up your battery so you can get back to life sooner.²
- MEMORIES MADE PICTURE PERFECT: Capture every angle in stunning clarity, from wide family photos to close-ups of friends, with the triple-lens camera on Galaxy A17 5G.
- NEED MORE STORAGE? WE HAVE YOU COVERED: With an improved 2TB of expandable storage, Galaxy A17 5G makes it easy to keep cherished photos, videos and important files readily accessible whenever you need them.³
- BUILT TO LAST: With an improved IP54 rating, Galaxy A17 5G is even more durable than before.⁴ It’s built to resist splashes and dust and comes with a stronger yet slimmer Gorilla Glass Victus front and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer back.
Samsung did not win the whole of 2024
Omdia’s later preliminary annual results put Apple first for the full calendar year:
| Vendor | 2024 shipments | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 225.9 million | 18% |
| Samsung | 222.9 million | 18% |
Omdia estimated 1.2231 billion smartphones for the year, up 7.1%. Apple’s annual advantage was about 3 million units, with both companies rounding to 18% share. Omdia linked Apple’s edge partly to strong fourth-quarter launches and Samsung’s loss of share in lower-priced segments to Chinese brands. Omdia’s annual table is the basis for those figures.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened after Q1?
Omdia also ranked Samsung first in the next two quarters. Its Q2 estimate was 53.7 million Samsung shipments versus 45.6 million for Apple, and its Q3 estimate was 57.5 million versus 54.5 million. Apple’s strong fourth quarter then helped it finish the year ahead annually. The sequence illustrates how launch calendars can rotate quarterly leadership without proving a permanent change in market control.
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Global leadership is not U.S. leadership
The Q1 figures are worldwide and should not be applied to individual regions. For example, Counterpoint reported Apple at 62% of U.S. smartphone shipments in Q4 2023, compared with 31% for Samsung. That regional snapshot is separate from the global Q1 2024 ranking. Counterpoint’s U.S. data shows why geography must be stated whenever a market-share claim is made.
How to state the result accurately
- Use “Samsung led global smartphone shipments in Q1 2024,” not “Samsung won 2024.”
- Use “shipments” rather than “sales” unless a source specifically measures consumer sell-through.
- Attribute estimates to IDC or Omdia and identify them as preliminary where applicable.
- Keep the geography worldwide; do not infer U.S., Chinese or European leadership.
- Treat the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 15 launch timing as an explanation for seasonality, not proof that one model outsold another.
The Bottom Line
Samsung beat Apple in worldwide smartphone shipment volume during Q1 2024, helped by its early Galaxy S24 launch and Apple’s post-launch seasonal lull. Apple nevertheless finished 2024 narrowly ahead on an annual basis, so the quarter was a temporary lead shaped largely by product-cycle timing—not proof that Samsung permanently reclaimed the smartphone market.
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