Water is wet, grass is green, and Apple's latest "regular" iPhone leads the list of the world's best-selling smartphones. None of those immovable truths is... moved by the newest Counterpoint Research report focusing on this year's second quarter, but if you look beyond the dominant iPhone 15, you might be surprised by some of the device names and especially their percentages further down the top ten list.
Granted, the presence of the iPhone 15 Pro Max right behind its little brother cousin is obviously no shocker either. But Samsung's modest Galaxy A15 5G is ranked fourth in global Q2 2024 sales, closely followed by... the even humbler Galaxy A15 4G.
iPhone 15 vs Galaxy A15 - an unlikely battle for supremacy
What do you get when you combine the market share numbers of the two A15 variants? 3.8 percent. That may not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of the mobile industry, but the market-leading iPhone 15 sits in first place with an only slightly larger 4.1 percent slice of the pie.
Analyzed together, the 5G-enabled and 4G LTE-only Galaxy A15s are thus ahead of both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro, not to mention the iPhone 15 Plus, which is nowhere to be found among the world's ten top-selling handsets.
Apple is once again occupying the entire global podium, but Samsung's low-end threat is looming large.
Compared to the Galaxy A14 4G and A14 5G this time last year, Samsung's newer low-end phones are clearly more popular, but that's actually not an entirely good thing for the biggest mobile device vendor in the world. That's because higher-end members of the Galaxy A family seem to be struggling, possibly as a consequence of the A15's upgrades over its predecessor.
As such, the Galaxy A55 is apparently proving less successful than the A54, which can't be good for its manufacturer's overall profits. The super-premium Galaxy S24 Ultra, meanwhile, seems to be selling exactly as well (or as poorly) as the S23 Ultra, ranking one spot lower than its predecessor in this year's Q2 hierarchy due to the somewhat unexpected rise of the entry-level Redmi 13C 4G.
The S24 Ultra is clearly incapable of rivaling the popularity of the iPhone 15, 15 Pro Max, 15 Pro, or even the iPhone 14, the latter of which is itself selling much worse than the iPhone 13 it has replaced in Apple's extensive product portfolio.
Where is the iPhone 15 series selling like hotcakes?
The easiest answer to that question is, well, pretty much everywhere. But according to a separate Kantar report published yesterday, there is one big country where the world's best-selling smartphones are all eclipsed by, you guessed it, the Galaxy A15.
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We're talking about France, which currently contrasts with all the other top 5 European markets, where the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 with a dual rear-facing camera system reigns supreme. In addition to Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, the non-Pro and non-Plus Apple handset also takes the gold medal in Mainland China, while Australia is somewhat vaguely dominated by the iPhone 15 "series."
The iPhone 15 is still eclipsed by the iPhone 14 in Japan. | Image Credit -- Kantar
The iPhone 15 Pro Max, meanwhile, stands tall (both literally and figuratively) above all other smartphones in the US, with the outdated iPhone 14 surprisingly snatching Japan's crown away from the iPhone 15 and... the iPhone SE (2022).
Japan is clearly a very... original market, with the "Google Pixel" beating both Samsung's Galaxy S flagships and the low-end Galaxy A series for the title of "top selling Android smartphone." Android, by the way, is no longer the dominant platform in the US, which is definitely a disappointing thing to hear for the likes of Samsung, Motorola, and of course, Google.
Interestingly, Asus has quietly become the fifth most popular smartphone brand stateside, largely thanks to its extravagant (but eye-catching) ROG Phone gaming-centric series.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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