NEEDHAM, MA – Global smartphone shipments increased 4% year over year to 316.1 million units in the third quarter, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

This quarter marks the fifth consecutive quarter of shipment growth with a strong start into the second half of this year despite macroeconomic concerns, IDC said.

"Led by strong growth from Chinese vendors like vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei, the smartphone market shows resilience despite global economic headwinds," said Will Wong, senior research manager for AP Client Devices. "Nevertheless, the growth among vendors was uneven – while some companies grappled with elevated Bill-of-Materials (BOM) costs, others benefited from favorable exchange rates in emerging markets like Southeast Asia. vivo's performance was particularly notable, fueled by aggressive product launches and a low comparison base."

"While the growth of the Chinese players in emerging markets has been an ongoing theme this year, Apple also enjoyed a 3.5% YoY growth in shipments this quarter fueled by strong demand from the previous models and the launch of the new iPhone 16 lineup," said Nabila Popal, research director for Worldwide Client Devices. "In Q3 2024, older iPhone models, specifically the iPhone 15, performed exceptionally well due to the heavy promotions and increased marketing activities around Apple Intelligence. Despite the staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence in markets outside the U.S., Apple will continue to grow in the upcoming holiday season as it expects many customers to upgrade from the iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and prior models to a new AI-enabled smartphone, future-proofing their purchases for the long term."

"Samsung retained its market leadership despite a drop in the total number of units shipped. However, the company continues to grow its share in the premium segment as the average prices increased in the quarter driven by a stronger mix of Galaxy AI-enabled models," said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for EMEA Client Devices. "The company started rolling out Galaxy AI features to other Samsung models and launched the new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 foldables with Galaxy AI, which contributed to a better performance in the premium segment."