Samsung’s Galaxy.. Since 1938, Samsung has made its home in South Korea, where its cellphones have been the best-selling gadgets for many years. But the iPhone keeps becoming more and more popular, proving to Samsung that its position at the top in its own nation may not be as secure as you would believe.
Even worse, Samsung’s 12-year reign as the world’s best-selling smartphone was broken in 2023 when Apple and the iPhone officially outsold Samsung smartphones worldwide. What, then, is causing this change in smartphone popularity? We’ll look at Apple’s advantage over Samsung today, as well as the reasons for the smartphone maker’s possible decline and whether Apple is set to maintain its recent upward trend.
Apple vs. Samsung based on numbers
Sales of iPhones are increasing in Korea as Apple surpasses Samsung worldwide.
Given that Samsung has been headquartered in South Korea for over 90 years, the company’s dominant market position in the nation seems inevitable. In South Korea, Samsung has 66 percent of the smartphone market share, almost three times that of Apple, which has just 29 percent.
However, nothing lasts forever, and a recent surge in iPhone sales in South Korea may ultimately mean disaster for Samsung. Sales of the iPhone 15 series, which includes the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, have reportedly grown significantly in the nation, up 41.9 percent in the first month after its introduction in October 2023 compared to the iPhone 14. This information was reported by the Korea Herald.
Even more concerning for the tech giant is that, as of 2023, Apple has surpassed Samsung in the global smartphone sales rankings by 8 million units, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC). That’s correct, Apple outsold Samsung with 234.6 million handsets sold, despite Samsung selling an obviously amazing 26.6 million units. As a result, Apple currently has a 20.1% market share in smartphones worldwide, with Samsung trailing closely behind at 19.4%.
Why is Samsung’s market share declining?
Apple’s widespread appeal and the growing Android market
There are many possible explanations for why Samsung may be losing customers both domestically and abroad. First off, there are many rivals in the congested Android industry, making it more difficult to remain in the game as they advance in strength. The rivalry is fierce, with Xiaomi undercutting Huawei on pricing, Google determining the worth of the Pixel portfolio each year, and Huawei becoming more and more popular in China. That implies that Samsung is no longer the clear choice for Android consumers, especially considering that its smartphones are becoming a little monotonous with each new version.
Furthermore, the barriers to expensive smartphones seem to be thinning since 20% of the global smartphone industry already consists of high-end models. This implies that the comparatively costly iPhone is no longer seen as the unaffordable tech icon it once was.
To sum up, Samsung isn’t doing enough to compete with a business that has shown its value in the marketing arena, especially in light of Apple’s efforts to eventually catch up with the Android way of life.
Apple’s compliance
Will RCS messaging and USB-C adoption by Apple be beneficial?
Perhaps the biggest factor behind Apple’s global takeover of Samsung is that several long-desired Android features are now available on the iPhone. The addition of the USB-C charging connection, which the firm was compelled to include as a result of an EU ruling requiring all devices sold in Europe to use the standard by autumn 2024, is at least largely responsible for the surge in the iPhone 15 range. Again mandated by the EU, Apple also intends to include RCS messaging for texting across Android and iPhone at last.
But that’s not all. Carriers in Korea, in particular, have assisted Apple in bringing call recording—a function that Samsung phones have had for years—to the iPhone. Despite its seemingly insignificant nature, the capacity to record a call has proven quite popular among Korean users, and many residents have mentioned this feature as the main reason for their conversion. iPhones are also more affordable for consumers because to carrier promotions that drive down pricing.
Yes, in terms of features, Android smartphones are almost always superior than iPhone models. However, Apple is still catching up in areas that are important to customers, even as innovation is becoming tougher to come by. And if Samsung is unable to maintain its lead, a new leader in South Korea may emerge soon.
