Kantar Q3 2024 report: Huawei takes China, Apple leads in the US, and Samsung faces mixed results

Kantar has just published its Comtech Q3 2024 Smartphone Operating System report. The new report shows global sales volumes largely flat, and even dropping 2% year on year, due to weak demand in Mainland China and Japan.

US smartphone sales grow with Apple as top seller while Samsung wins Europe

In the US, we have strong growth in smartphone sales, which have grown 21%, while in Europe (top five markets), sales have grown by 13%. Australian sales have grown by 19%. Globally, the iPhone 15 series remains the most popular smartphone lineup, while Samsung retains the position of top-selling Android brand, despite losing sales share across all markets.
In the US, Apple is the top seller. Early data show that the iPhone 16 Pro Max could become the model that's selling the most from the newer iPhone series, which is pretty standard for Apple. On the other hand, Samsung is experiencing a challenging quarter and is seeing a 6% decline in sales share. The Galaxy A15 is Samsung's top-selling model, followed by the Galaxy S24+.



Apple maintains its second place in Europe, and there, judging by early data, the iPhone 16 Pro is shaping up to be the most sought-after model from the lineup.

Huawei wins Mainland China for the first time in three years

Despite that, demand is weakened in Mainland China and Japan and is down by 23% in China and 16% in Japan in comparison to last year.

In Japan, Android sales share has grown by 2%, and the top seller there is the domestic brand Sharp, which took the Google Pixel. Oppo and Xiaomi's sales grew in the country by 3% and 4% respectively.

In Australia, Android sales have jumped by 5%. There though, Apple is the top seller despite experiencing a decline in sales in the region. Samsung comes in second (first in Android brands), while Google remains at a steady third position.  

Artificial Intelligence

Apple released its first wave of Apple Intelligence features on October 28 and brought email summaries, photo features, and a smarter Siri. Apple remains focused on security and is taking a cautious approach to AI rollout, in contrast to other makers which are offering more features.

Google has been pushing AI heavily on its Pixel series. 12% of Google Pixel buyers have indicated that AI is a key reason why they chose their phone vs 5% of the market average. However, it seems there's no notable growth in Pixel sales compared to the previous year.

Jack Hamlin, Global Consumer Insights Director at Worldpanel Division, Kantar, stated that AI features help retain consumers within a brand ecosystem, but may not necessarily drive new sales.

Kantar states in their report that they will continue to monitor the impact of AI on buyers and will continue to provide insights into AI product innovations.

I personally find that the sales numbers reflect what I've been experiencing as well. AI may be exciting and new, but it seems not to be the whole reason why somebody would want a new smartphone (maybe in the future, it will drive more sales). The tech is still quite new so it doesn't necessarily bring anything groundbreaking at this point.