According to a new report from market research firm IDC, global smartphone shipments fell 3.2 per cent year-on-year to 1.17 billion units in 2023. This is the lowest shipment volume recorded in 10 years and was largely driven by macroeconomic challenges and increased inventories at the start of the year.

However, global smartphone shipments grew 8.5 per cent year-on-year to 326.1 million units in the fourth quarter of last year, ahead of the previously expected 7.3 per cent growth.

Of those, Android vendors such as Transsion and Xiaomi grew in the second half of 2023 on the back of rapid growth in emerging markets, though the biggest winner was Apple.

Not only was Apple the only vendor in the top three to achieve positive growth every year, but it also became the annual number one for the first time, ending Samsung's reign as number one in annual shipments since 2010.

Ryan Reith, vice president of IDC's Worldwide Mobile and Consumer Device Tracking division, said Samsung's shipment decline was partly due to competition from Apple, and partly due to the diversification of the Android market as a whole.