Report: Samsung took a bite out of Apple's global market share in 2023

It was a rough year for the global smartphone market in 2023. But a new report claims that last year wasn’t all bad for OEMs, as the premium smartphone segment may have been a bright spot in the otherwise weak market.

The global technology research firm Counterpoint has released a new report on the state of the global premium smartphone market in 2023. According to the firm’s research, it’s expected that we’ll see that global premium smartphone sales increased by 6% YoY last year. If this is correct, it would reportedly be a new sales record for the premium segment.

The report states that although the overall global smartphone market is projected to be in decline, the premium segment of the market was one area where growth occurred. “Considering the importance a smartphone holds, consumers are willing to spend more to get a high-quality device that they can use for a longer period,” said Senior Analyst Varun Mishra.

Specifically speaking, it appears that ultra-premium handsets are the driving factor behind the premium segment’s growth. Reportedly, devices that are $1,000 and over managed to snag one-third of premium market sales.

It’s also mentioned in the report that Apple has maintained its stronghold on the global market share, but it has lost some ground to its competitors. In 2022, Counterpoint claims Apple had 75% of the market share, but that dropped to 71% in 2023. Conversely, Samsung’s market share appears to have grown by 1% during the same time.

Despite Samsung experiencing major profit declines in 2023, this should be good news for the tech giant. It appears that the Galaxy S23 and its latest foldables phones may have helped the company take back some market share from Apple.