Apple’s stint as the world’s largest smartphone maker turned out to last two short seconds as Samsung retook its crown during the first quarter of 2024. According to the latest data from market research firm IDC, declining interest in China has contributed to 10% of the company’s sales. It’s not like Samsung broke a decades-long legacy for Apple either—Samsung had held its position at the top for 12 years before it toppled, for one quarter, to Apple.
Apple’s challenges
According to experts, there are a multitude of factors feeding into why Samsung is seeing a comeback, while Apple is not faring so well. One factor is Android, Samsung’s operating system’s supposed decline over the past few years, in relation to its competitors. This decline is leading many to believe that there is no other direction than up for the brand. Apple and iOS’s resilience in the face of the many challenges it faced, means that there is little left for it to grow, or improve. Commenting to CNN, the research director at IDC made a case for Apple saying that “it’s a steep drop for Apple, but if you think of where we have been in the past four years, Apple has probably been the most resilient brand, overcoming supply chain issues and macro challenges, more than other brands.” Nevertheless, Apple’s supporters also cite challenges such as the rise of nationalism in China, an unfavourable economy, and heightened competition as reasons for the brand’s poor performance.
China is one of the most important markets for smartphones in the world, due to its size. It’s one of the most highly competitive, for the same reasons. While iPhones hold sway over the US market, there are many players jostling for space in China, although there is a very clear winner. Huawei is one such popular player and one that was expected to take a nosedive following the US Senate’s crackdown on sharing foreign chip technology with mainland China over alleged security concerns. Huawei quickly put rumours of its approaching demise to rest, however, with the launch of Mate 60 Pro with its homemade 5G Kirin 9000s processor. This processor is so advanced that it prompted an inquiry by the US Government into how the company possessed the technology necessary to develop it. Xiaomi is another smartphone brand that most people in the West may not have even heard of, and yet it holds third place in sales by volume behind Samsung and Apple. Transsion and Oppo (OnePlus) are other such popular smartphone brands in China.
Apple’s decline in popularity
To put the competition into perspective, Xiaomi shipped 40.8 million units in the first quarter of this year, while Apple shipped 50.1 million units. Transsion, a Chinese smartphone that is seeing growing popularity in Africa due to its affordability shipped 28.5 million units. Oppo shipped 25.2 million. Samsung shipped 60.1 million units to reclaim its position at the top. With the variety of options on the market, Apple is struggling to capture consumer attention. The company is now offering discounts on its products in China to help boost popularity and sales.
One key reason for Apple’s decline in popularity that many market analysts tend to overlook is its own lack of comparability to the features and functions that Samsung offers, at much better prices. The iPhone is simply not as exciting as it once was, especially when compared to the AI-first devices and folding smartphones that Samsung has. Apple’s Siri is no longer the revolutionary service it once was. If Google releasing its new Circle to Search feature to the Galaxy S24 Ultra even before its own Pixel devices is anything to go by, even Google is now working under the assumption that Samsung is now the frontrunner in the smartphone market. The new feature, which transcribes words or pictures highlighted into a Google Search allows Android users to access Google even easier.
Apple’s lack of commitment to the AI movement is not helping create any confidence in their consumers either. Apple has yet to come out with a strong marketing message on how they plan to integrate the technology into their products moving forward; this issue may be addressed at the company’s developer conference this June. Unlike Apple, Samsung is fully on the AI bandwagon, and its latest S24 series, which was announced this January, will feature AI-assisted/supported messaging, gaming, and photographs. Developing quality smartphones with all the trimmings is now the way to go, according to current market trends. The iPhone business model of releasing a new model every so often is not cutting it; today’s budget-savvy consumers are looking for a device that they can multitask on for a long time.
(Theruni Liyanage)