Samsung Electronics has reclaimed the top spot in global smartphone sales, surpassing Apple.

According to market research firm IDC, Samsung Electronics ranked first in market share (20.8 percent), with 60.1 million smartphones sold, in the first quarter of this year.

Apple, which sold 50.1 million smartphones, retreated to second place in Q1 with 17.3 percent of the market share.

Samsung’s sales fell by 0.7 percent compared to the first quarter of last year, but Apple sales showed a sharper drop of 9.6 percent, leaving Samsung in first place.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple - with 24.7 of the market share - had secured the top spot, over Samsung - with 16.3 percent.

Following Samsung Electronics and Apple, Chinese companies such as Xiaomi (14.1 percent), Transsion (9.9 percent) and Oppo (8.7 percent) ranked third to fifth, respectively, in the first quarter of 2024.