New research has claimed that Apple may be close to overtaking Samsung as the top smartphone manufacturer in the world this year, and it is all thanks to the strong sales of the iPhone 17 lineup.
There are also estimates that Apple will ship as many as 243 million units of the iPhone this year, and this will land them ahead of Samsung by less than 1%.
Apple May Overtake Samsung as the Top Phone Manufacturer
According to a report by Bloomberg, a technology market research firm called Counterpoint Research has shared a prediction that Apple may overtake Samsung as the top phone manufacturer this year.
This centers on the iPhone 17 series’ success in the market, with Apple set to ship around 243 million smartphones before the year ends. It was predicted that Samsung would only ship 235 million units of its smartphones this year.
This would put Apple ahead by only a little, as it was revealed that it would be up by less than 1% ahead of Samsung. According to Counterpoint Research, this would be the first time Apple would overtake Samsung in phone shipments in as many as 14 years.
The Verge noted that, while different market analyses on smartphone market shares globally have named different leaders in phone shipments, Counterpoint’s latest study claims this year would be a history changer for Apple.
That said, there are still no predictions for next year’s smartphone industry, including whether Apple be on top once the iPhone 18 series is released or if Samsung will reclaim the top spot again.
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All Thanks to the iPhone 17 Series
Counterpoint Research shared that the iPhone 17 series was able to perform well, and its higher sales can be attributed to different factors in the market.
Apple was able to see as much as 12% more sales in the first four weeks of the iPhone 17’s availability compared to the iPhone 16 lineup from last year. Additionally, Counterpoint said that Apple’s iPhone 17 series saw a sales boost thanks to the “lower-than-expected” impact from the Trump administration’s tariffs.
According to the analysis, Apple was able to perform well with the iPhone 17 series this year despite the many caveats and issues it faced with its current line, including the low iPhone 17 Air sales and slow AI rollout by the company.
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