iPhone 15 breaks smartphone market's sales slump

After 27 consecutive months of sales sinking year over year, new research says the iPhone 15 helped the global smartphone market see its first positive growth since June 2021.

Previously, Counterpoint Research has reported that while the smartphone market has been declining for more than two years, Apple's iPhone has tended to beat that trend. This is even taking into account the research firm's report that in China, the iPhone 15 was failing to match the demand seen by the iPhone 14.

Now Counterpoint reports that for October 2023, global monthly smartphone sell-through volumes grew 5% YoY.

"[A] factor for growth has been the launch of iPhone 15 series," says the company. "As compared to last year, the launch was delayed by a week which meant the full effect of the new iPhone sales was felt in October."

Global monthly smartphone sell-through volumes grew 5% YoY, (source: Counterpoint)

Counterpoint also says that growth has been primarily in emerging markets, in particular the Middle East and Africa. Part of this was Huawei's return to the market, plus India's festive sales season.

While Counterpoint does not break down smartphone model figures in this latest report, it recently claimed that Apple led its competitions with a 43% share of the market.