iPhone 15 Pro Max beats Samsung to be the top-selling smartphone in the world, says report

We’ve got a new report from Counterpoint Research today on the state of global smartphone shipments. The high-end, newest iPhone was more popular than all of the other iPhone models and was the top pick against Samsung’s flagship and mid-range smartphones.

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Counterpoint shared its latest report on its website this morning with the data showing the top 10 best-selling smartphones of Q1 2024 vs 2023.

Shown below, the top four slots were won by iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 14 with the flagship Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra coming in fifth.

The Galaxy A15 5G and A54 came in sixth and seventh with the iPhone 15 Plus landing in eighth. The Galaxy S24 and A34 rounded out the top 10.

According to its data, Counterpoint highlights the base iPhone model usually outsells the Pro version(s) in non-seasonal quarters, but not this time:

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Notably, the Pro Max variant achieved the top position for the first time in Apple’s non-seasonal quarter, reflecting an increasing trend of consumer preference for high-end smartphones.

Counterpoint estimates that iPhone Pro model sales drove more than 60% of Apple’s smartphone revenue. And the firm calls out the big growth from Q1 2020 where Pro devices accounted for 24% of iPhone sales to over 50% being Pro models in Q1 2024.

Counterpoint believes one factor contributing to higher premium smartphone sales is customers holding onto their devices for longer before upgrading. Looking ahead, it expects more of the top 10 smartphones to grab a larger share of total smartphone sales.

The Counterpoint data corroborates the trend we saw in January from two different firms about Apple out-selling Samsung worldwide across 2023.

While the news shows positive momentum for Apple’s high-end iPhone market share, overall iPhone sales were down 10% in Q1 (Apple’s fiscal Q2) in 2024 compared to 2023. However, strong Services revenue was able to buoy overall revenue for the quarter.

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Read more in our full Apple earnings coverage:

• Apple announces Q2 2024 earnings, slightly beating expectations with $90.75 billion revenue

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