According to the Omdia's "Smartphone Model Market Tracking Report for the Second Quarter of 2024", the iPhone 15 ProMax was the top-selling smartphone globally in the first half of 2024, with a total shipment of 21.8 million units. Following the success of the iPhone 14 ProMax in 2023 as the best-selling phone, the iPhone ProMax series retained its top spot for the second consecutive year.

Even during a period of high inflation, the popularity of the most expensive iPhone continues to rise. Despite expectations that inflation would reduce consumer wages and limit spending, the opposite is happening, with more people opting for the high-end iPhone ProMax priced between $1199 and $1599, and possibly planning to hold onto this phone for the long term.

So far, the standard iPhone 15 ranks second in popularity for 2024, just behind the 15 ProMax, with a total shipment of 17.8 million units, while the iPhone 15 Pro ranks fourth at 16.9 million units. However, the iPhone 15 Plus model is less popular within the series with only 3.7 million units, ranking 28th globally.

With the latest iPhone models set to be released on September 20th, this trend is expected to continue, with the iPhone 16 ProMax likely becoming the most popular model. Despite significant upgrades in the standard 16 and 16 Plus compared to their predecessors, this trend is expected to persist. Both models will feature the latest A18 chipset, skipping over the previous A16 chipset to A17, enabling them to power the upcoming 'Apple Intelligence' AI features.

Ranked third is the Samsung Galaxy A15, with a first-half 2024 shipment of 17.3 million units. Priced at $129, this 4G phone is the most popular budget smartphone to date, showing growth compared to the Galaxy A14 which had 12.4 million units shipped in the first half of 2023. The high inflation mentioned earlier has led some mid-range smartphone buyers to shift towards the sub-$150 ultra-low-end and budget markets, driving the demand for A15. Meanwhile, the 5G version of this phone, Samsung Galaxy A15 5G priced at $199, ranks seventh with a sales volume of 12.2 million units.

The newly released Samsung S24 Ultra, launched on January 31st, ranks fifth in the most popular smartphones with a sales volume of 12.6 million units. This surpasses its predecessor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which had a first-half 2023 shipment of 9.6 million units. The success of the latest S24 series may be attributed to Samsung's introduction of the Galaxy AI feature for the first time, potentially attracting previous S series users to upgrade.

The iPhone13, launched three years ago, ranks sixth with a shipment volume of 12.5 million units, 1.4 million units higher than the ninth-ranked iPhone14. The selling price of iPhone13 is approximately $599 and may become a new starting point for many mid-range smartphone users to enter the Apple ecosystem. This position was previously filled by the iPhone11, which despite being released in 2019, still ranks among the top ten smartphones globally this year.

Finally, ranking eighth and tenth are the ultra-low-end smartphones Xiaomi (01810) 13C and Samsung Galaxy A05, priced at around $80 each. These two phones are very similar: both are 4G, with the same screen resolution, both are entry-level with 4GB RAM, rear cameras of 50 million pixels and 2 million pixels respectively, and a battery capacity of 5000mAh.

Omdia predicts that although the shipment volume will significantly increase in the first half of 2024, there will be a decline in the second half of 2024.

Omdia's Senior Research Manager Jusy Hong said: "For over a year, the shipment volume of low-end smartphones has been increasing, but with the demand suppressed by the pandemic being met, and the ongoing economic uncertainty, it is expected that this growth rate will slow down. In addition, the mid-range market ($151-600) has also lost momentum. The rise of refurbished (renewed and second-hand) devices has limited the growth of new demand. The prolonging of the smartphone replacement cycle and the stagnation of smartphone demand in advanced markets further affect the mid-range market. However, due to stable replacement cycles and new demand in emerging markets, the high-end market (above $600) is expected to grow. The introduction of on-device generative AI in devices such as iPhones and other high-end devices will stimulate replacement demand. Nevertheless, this alone is not enough to drive high-speed growth in overall shipments."