Apple saw deliveries of iPhone for sale fall by 9.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, being overtaken by rival Samsung.

According to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), the US company delivered 50.1 million units between January and March, below the 51.7 million expected by analysts quoted by the company. Bloomberg and the 60.1 million units delivered by Samsung.

Apple is thus in second place on the list of companies that have delivered the most cell phones, after dethroning Samsung in 2023 as the cell phone manufacturer that has delivered the most units for sale.

In third place is Xiaomi, with 40.8 million cell phones shipped in the first three months of this year. This figure represents a growth of 33.8% compared to the same period in 2023.

The drop in Apple deliveries - the biggest since covid-19 according to Bloomberg - came despite the fact that global cell phone sales increased by 7.8% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. In total, manufacturers of these products delivered 289.4 million units in the first three months of this year, according to IDC data.

Although challenges remain in the cell phone market in several markets, this is the third consecutive quarter of sales growth. "As expected, the recovery continues with market optimism slowly growing among the major brands," said Ryan Reith.

In terms of the outlook for the brands, IDC expects Samsung and Apple to maintain their leadership, but warns of a recovery by Huawei in China, as well as Xiaomi.