Smartphone mockups
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No smartphone manufacturer other than Apple or Samsung cracked the list of the top 10 selling smartphones on the planet in the first half of 2023, according to a new report. And the best-selling model is one of the most expensive phones on the market, even as the overall smartphone market is shrinking.
The top 10 phones in the first half of 2023 are:
- Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: 26.5 million
- Apple iPhone Pro: 21 million
- Apple iPhone 14: 16.5 million
- Apple iPhone 13: 15.5 million
- Samsung Galaxy A14: 12.4 million
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: 9.6 million
- Samsung Galaxy A14 5G: 9 million
- Samsung Galaxy A54 5G:8.8 million
- Samsung Galaxy A34 5G: 7.1 million
- Apple iPhone 11: 6.9 million
“The global smartphone market is recording negative growth as the mid- to low-end market shrinks due to economic recession and the expansion of the used smartphone market,” says Omdia, the research firm that released the report. “On the other hand, the premium smartphone market is steadily increasing because replacement demand for Apple’s premium models remains solid.”
The top two models are Apple’s most expensive models. The iPhone 14 Pro Max tops out around $1,600, while the 14 Pro can cost $1,500. The Samsung Galaxy A14, by contrast, can be under $200 and the A14 5G is around $300.
One major change from last year: there are no Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the top 10. A major concern for Samsung last year was the growing domination of Chinese brands, but the Korean company has successfully fought back that trend up to this point at least.
A key reason why: people want better phones with more features.
“Shipments of Chinese smartphone set makers have continued a double-digit decline since 2022 due to the slump in the mid- to low-end smartphone market,” Omdia says.
Apple will be releasing its new iPhone 15 models at an event in September, and Omdia expects that they will sell in similar volumes to Apple’s current top of the line models. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, the biggest and most expensive model, is expected to be about $100 more than the current iPhone 14 Pro Max thanks to a new camera with more optical zoom capability.
Samsung’s most expensive model, the dual-screen Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, which costs more than any Apple iPhone at about $2,000, did not make the list of most shipped smartphones.
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