Counterpoint: US smartphone shipments to drop 8% year-on-year in Q1 2024

According to Counterpoint’s market monitoring data, US smartphone shipments fell 8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. This was mainly due to an increase in shipments in the first quarter of 2023 after Covid-19-related factory closures pushed Apple’s shipments from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of last year. The sub-$300 segment continued to decline due to weakness in the prepaid market and operators’ push for 5G smartphone SKUs, causing some OEMs to exit the market.

“Operator upgrade rates and device revenues declined again in the first quarter of 2024, indicating continued weakness in demand for smartphones,” said Jeff Fieldhack, North American research director at Counterpoint. “Apple maintained a healthy 52% market share during the quarter, while Android shipments under $300 declined.”

Regarding Android phone shipments, senior analyst Maurice Klaehne said: "Overall Android shipments fell year-on-year, with continued consolidation in the low-end market and fewer new product launches as LTE devices are phased out in operator channels and replaced by 5G models. The additional cost of 5G connectivity makes it challenging for OEMs to compete in the low-end market. A bright spot in the market was Samsung, which saw year-on-year growth in shipments of its earlier S24 series. This was Samsung's best first quarter in four years, with the brand's market share growing to 31%, the highest level since the first quarter of 2020. Demand from old Samsung users looking to upgrade to new devices was very strong."