Can you correctly guess which phone was the most shipped worldwide in the first half of 2023?
Based on data from Omdia's Smartphone Model Market Tracker, the most shipped smartphone in the world during the first half of 2023 was the iPhone 14 Pro Max priced in a range between $1,099 and $1,599. Right behind Apple's priciest phone was the iPhone 14 Pro which cost between $999 and $1,499. Omdia reports that Apple shipped 26.5 million iPhone 14 Pro Max units worldwide during the first six months of 2023 and 21 million iPhone 14 Pro units were delivered during the same time period.
Interestingly, during the first half of 2022, the basic iPhone 13, priced between $799-$1,099, was the most shipped handset with 33.7 million units delivered globally by Apple. Last year, the iPhone 13 Pro Max was in second place with 23 million units in transit during the first half of 2022.
Two iPhone models and one Samsung Galaxy device completed the top five for the first half of 2023. The iPhone 14 was third and the iPhone 13 was fourth with 16.5 million and 15.5 million units shipped respectively. The one non-iOS model in this year's top five, the mid-range Galaxy A14, had 12.4 million units shipped worldwide during the first half of 2023. A low price tag, a triple camera setup (including a 50MP primary), and a hefty 5000mAh battery are some of the attractions.
Actually, the fifth-place showing of the Galaxy A14 wasn't as surprising as you might have thought. Last year, the Galaxy A13 was the third-most shipped smartphone at the halfway mark of 2022 with 16.2 million units delivered.
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max was the most shipped phone worldwide during the first half of this year
After the Galaxy A14, the next four models on the list, from numbers six down to nine, were all Samsung phones. Number six was the Galaxy S23 Ultra with 9.6 million phones shipped globally during the first six months of the year. Last year, the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G was also sixth at the halfway point of 2022 after 9.8 million units were delivered. With 9 million handsets delivered worldwide, the Galaxy A14 5G was seventh.
In eighth place was the Galaxy A54 5G (8.8 million units shipped globally) and ninth place went to the Galaxy A34 5G with 7.1 million phones delivered. Completing the top 10 smartphones shipped worldwide for the first half of 2023, number 10 was the iPhone 11 with 6.9 million units in transit during the first half of 2023.
While Apple and Samsung dominated the list this year, during the first half of 2022, a couple of Redmi phones from Xiaomi (the Note 11 and the 9A) finished ninth and tenth respectively. Jusy Hong, Senior Research Manager at Omdia, said that "shipments of Android-based smartphone...will inevitably see another round of negative growth this year. On the other hand, Apple's shipments of Pro and Pro Max will increase due to solid demand for premium models, but overall iPhone shipments this year will be similar to last year or decrease slightly due to weak demand for standard and plus models."
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