The smartphone market in Europe grew by 5% in 2024, following 4 consecutive years of decline. The announcement got here from Canalys, which revealed the market noticed simply over 136 million gadgets shipped, with 30% of them being premium gadgets, priced $800 and above.
Samsung remained a pacesetter in 2024, however Apple recorded spectacular This fall 2024 gross sales. This was pushed by a constructive reception for the iPhone 16, though ot nonetheless lacks Apple Intelligence.
The market noticed resilient high-end demand, mixed with a alternative cycle of mid-to-low-end smartphones, bought in the course of the pandemic. Samsung elevated its gross sales by 6% on a yearly foundation, whereas Apple shipped 1% extra iPhones.
Xiaomi, the third largest smartphone vendor in Europe, principally pushed the identical quantity of Redmi, Poco, and Xiaomi-branded telephones because it did in 2023. Motorola noticed a 26% improve, whereas Oppo grew 13% YoY, however Canalys identified the quantity contains OnePlus shipments.
The report factors out that 2024 noticed the most important quantity of premium gadgets offered – 41 million, or 30% of the entire 136 million. The evaluation is predicated on shipments and never precise retailer gross sales, and it contains Apple’s push of iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 gadgets into the channel earlier than they have been discontinued because of the USB-C directive; retailers are allowed to promote these gadgets in the event that they have been already on the cabinets earlier than December 28, when the directive kicked in.
Samsung’s improve in gross sales was principally pushed by the Galaxy S24 sequence, which was closely marketed in the course of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
An in depth evaluation into separate international locations revealed that Apple has nearly double the Samsung shipments within the UK (52% vs 28%), however in Spain, it fell to 3rd place, as Xiaomi shipped extra telephones than its Korean competitor
Motorola reached an all-time excessive in Europe in 2024, due to enlargement by way of offline shops and open market channels. Oppo’s quantity returned to development after two troublesome years, seeing a push in Southern Europe – Spain, Italy, Romania, and Portugal. Honor and Realme additionally grew by double digits, “intensifying competitors and creating pleasure inside the channel and amongst customers.”
| 2024 shipments (in million) | 2024 market share | 2023 shipments (in million) | 2023 market share | Annual development | |
| Samsung | 46.4 | 34% | 43.7 | 34% | 6% |
| Apple | 34.9 | 26% | 34.6 | 27% | 1% |
| Xiaomi | 22.2 | 16% | 22.2 | 17% | 0% |
| Motorola | 8.0 | 6% | 6.4 | 5% | 26% |
| Oppo | 4.1 | 3% | 3.7 | 3% | 13% |
| Others | 20.5 | 15% | 19.2 | 14% | 7% |
| Whole | 136.1 | 100% | 129.8 | 100% | 5% |
Corporations are going through a “advanced 2025” because the EU will introduce an Ecodesign Directive on June 20, pushing producers of cell gadgets to prioritize longevity, ease of restore, and accountable useful resource use. This contains offering spare elements for a number of years, sustaining longer software program assist, and providing technical documentation to facilitate repairs by third-party suppliers.
Shortly put, distributors should launch telephones with simply replaceable batteries and a number of years of software program assist. It is a large problem for many corporations, and we’re about to see them realign their priorities and goal income development from providers, B2B plans and channel expansions.
