Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max blew right past the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to rank as the highest-selling smartphone in the world in first-quarter 2023, according to rankings by global technology market analyst firm Canalys.
In fact, the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker not only secured the top ranking, but its iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, and iPhone 13 models closed out the second, third and fourth spots respectively in the rankings.
Apple watches what competitors do closely and has never taken Samsung's push for innovation for granted. However, it was clearly ahead of Samsung in Canalys’ estimates of worldwide mobile phone shipments. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra occupied the fifth spot as the most popular Android phone.
Samsung was the Apple iPhone’s chip supplier that dared to compete directly against Apple by making a smartphone. Most consumers will agree that the Apple versus Android rivalry has spawned great product designs, durability improvements, excellent cameras, strong operating systems and great displays.
The iPhone 14 Plus took the sixth spot, while the Samsung Galaxy S23 came seventh in the rankings.
“That's an absolutely remarkable stat shared by Canalys on Twitter, and it's made that much more impressive by the trend-defying growth of this high-end section of the smartphone industry,” wrote mobile technology watcher Adrian Diaconescu.
“That's right, $500+ devices are on the rise around the world, gaining 4.7% in the first 90 days of the year compared to Q1 2022, unlike the $300 to $500, $200-$299, $100-$199, and sub-$100 brackets, all of which have faced reduced demand in the same timeframe,” he added.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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