Latin America’s smartphone market surges 15%

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Devices & Platforms; 25 February 2025; 14452 views

The Latin American smartphone market surged by 15% in 2024 to 137 million units, with Korean vendor Samsung maintaining its position as the market leader by shipments.

According to Canalys, this growth was driven by a recovery in demand, upgrade cycles, and aggressive promotions from vendors.

Samsung led the market, with shipments rising by 12% to 42.9 million units, securing a 31% market share. Motorola retained second place despite a 4% year-on-year decline in shipments to 22.8 million units (17% market share). Xiaomi was a very close third, shipping 22.7 million units with a 20% growth rate (17% market share). Transsion saw an impressive 40% growth, reaching 12.8 million units (9% market share). Honor broke into the top five as shipments surged by 79% to 8 million units (6% market share).

“The historic milestone of 137 million smartphone shipments to Latin America may suggest at first glance that, in 2024, virtually all players in the smartphone market have won,” said Canalys senior analyst Miguel Pérez.

“Emerging vendors such as Xiaomi, Transsion, Honor, Oppo, and Realme achieved record shipments, spurring demand and significantly increasing market competitiveness—particularly in the sub-$300 price segment, which accounted for 72% of total sales. However, it is important to analyse where this growth occurred and whether it aligns with business strategies or is merely a temporary reaction to competitors’ market dynamics.”

“From a competitive perspective, the Latin American smartphone market in 2024 was largely defined by a battle for market share in unit shipments,” Pérez added.

“The dominant historical vendors, Samsung and Motorola, fought to regain lost ground against Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Transsion, which continued consolidating their presence in the region by gaining share from established brands.

“This resulted in fierce competition in the sub-$200 price segment, explaining the 94% increase in shipments to the region compared to 2023. The intense focus on value for money has significantly heightened competition in the Latin American smartphone market.

“However, this also restricts manufacturers’ and sales channels’ profitability while limiting opportunities to generate new revenue streams through the broader adoption of cutting-edge mobile technologies.”