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The global number of smartphone shipments continues to rise and in the last 10 years, a whopping 14 billion smartphones have been shipped worldwide, a report showed on Tuesday. 

Samsung once again proved to be the leader, with 2.99 billion shipped units in the past decade. Moreover, the South Korean tech giant outsold its biggest competitor Apple by 743 million units, as the latter sold 2.24 billion smartphones since 2014, according to data presented by AltIndex.com.

"After shifting back and forth, the global demand for new devices is expected to plunge again this year, prolonging the long-awaited market recovery," the report mentioned.

However, despite the market struggling to retain the growth rates seen in 2021, the total number of smartphone shipments continues to rise, pushing the 10-year figures to impressive highs.

IDC's 'Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker' survey showed smartphone producers have shipped more than 14 billion units worldwide since Q1 2014. The statistics also showed that 2015, 2016, and 2017 were the best years for global smartphone sales, with an average of 1.4 billion shipments. The following years saw much lower figures, with shipments plunging to 1.28 billion during the first year of the pandemic.

Although 2021 brought a recovery, the negative trend continued throughout 2022 and 2023, with shipments falling by another 13 per cent, the report noted.

In 2024, global smartphone sales are expected to generate $486 billion in revenue, down from more than $500 billion in 2021, according to Statista market projections.

While Samsung is at the top of global smartphone sales, its market share has dropped over the past 10 years, primarily due to Chinese competitors. Statistics showed Apple’s market share remained unchanged, at 15.8 per cent in Q2 2024. According to the IDC, global smartphone shipments increased 6.5 per cent (year-over-year) to 285.4 million units in the second quarter of 2024.