Apple remains undisputed in the premium smartphone market, and its lead from the top Android maker continues to be staggering.
Market analysis firm Counterpoint Research shared its preliminary Q4 2023 results for premium smartphones, which shows that mobile devices that cost USD600 and up have experienced a 6% year-on-year increase in sales — beating the projected decline in all of the smartphone market.
The firm said that 24% of all the smartphones in the market are now under the premium category and that the segment is growing in emerging markets.

Senior Analyst Varun Mishra said that buyers are now willing to invest more for a high-quality smartphone that they can keep using for a longer period of time.
As for the top companies that sold the most premium smartphones, iPhones were still undisputed — albeit its market share is 4% lower compared to last year’s. Apple is followed by the most popular Android maker, Samsung, with 17%.

Next is HUAWEI with 5%, which kept its seat at the third spot, and that’s despite the US sanctions as China has been one of the driving forces for the growth of premium phones, and HUAWEI is still one of the best-selling brands in the mainland. The fourth and third spots are from Xiaomi and OPPO.
Counterpoint added that more than China, the growth of the premium segment is also attributed to its performance in India, Western Europe, and MEA, with India being the fastest-growing market in the world.