Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2023 shows iPhones at an Apple store in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province. On the same day, data released by TechInsights showed that Apple’s iPhone sales in China surpassed the United States for the first time in the second quarter of 2023, becoming the largest single market for iPhone shipments.
Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Global smartphone shipments this year are on track to be the worst in a decade, Counterpoint Research said in a report on Thursday, as the market is dragged down by the U.S. and China.
However, Apple could become the biggest player in smartphones this year by shipments, as its high-end iPhone sales remain resilient, the report added.
Measuring expected demand, shipments are not equivalent to sales and represent the number of devices that smartphones vendors send to retailers.
Counterpoint Research said it expects smartphone shipments in 2023 to decline 6% year-on year to 1.15 billion devices.
“Asia is one of the major hurdles to positive growth, as headwinds halt the economic turnaround anticipated for China at the start of the year, and the broader region experiences intensifying declines across emerging markets,” Counterpoint said in its report.
China’s economy this year has sputtered and not lived up to expectations of a rapid recovery, while consumers remain cautious on spending.
Chinese smartphone purchases, which used to average 450 million devices a year at their peak, have shrunk to 270 million per year — contributing as a major cause behind the decline in global smartphone sales, Karn Chauhan, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research told CNBC via email.
North America continues to dampen the global recovery, with a “disappointing” first half of the year setting the region up for double-digit full-year declines, Counterpoint’s report said.
“Despite strength in the jobs market and inflation falling, consumers are hesitant to upgrade their devices, pushing replacement rates for the US and globally to record highs,” the research firm said.
‘Apple in a good spot’
The premium end of the market with higher priced devices has remained quite resilient, despite a fall in overall smartphone shipments.
Apple is gearing up to launch its next flagship smartphone — the iPhone 15 — in September. That could give the company a strong showing going into the end of the year, Counterpoint said.
“But we’re watching Q4 (fourth quarter) with interest because the iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers. And with that big iPhone 12 installed base up for grabs promos are going to be aggressive, leaving Apple in a good spot,” Jeff Fieldhack, research director for North America at Counterpoint Research, said in a press release.
Chauhan said the analyst firm expects Apple shipments to be up “marginally” year-on-year, given demand in markets like China and other Asian countries where there is a “growing premiumization trend” — meaning that people are willing to pay a higher price for phones.
Apple’s iPhone range helps Apple play in the premium segment of the smartphone market.
Counterpoint Research said that the U.S. company could this year take the top spot globally in terms of annual shipments for the first time ever. Samsung was the biggest player by market share in the second quarter of the year.
“It’s the closest Apple’s been to the top spot. We’re talking about a spread that’s literally a few days’ worth of sales,” Fieldhack said. “Assuming Apple doesn’t run into production problems like it did last year, it’s really a toss up at this point.”
Apple has made a push into new markets, with India being a focal point for the company in 2023, as it tries to capitalize on local consumers’ appetite for premium devices. The U.S. company opened its first physical stores in India this year, with CEO Tim Cook visiting the country.
Apple’s ability to grow in the market will also factor into whether it ends up as the number one smartphone maker this year, according to Chauhan.
“The reception of the iPhone 15 and growth in non-core iPhone markets will decide if Apple surpasses Samsung at the full-year level or not,” Chauhan told CNBC.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech during the Meta Connect annual event, at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.
Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said Shengjia Zhao, the co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, will serve as the chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Zuckerberg has been on a multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence hiring blitz in recent weeks, highlighted by a $14 billion investment in Scale AI. In June, Zuckerberg announced a new organization called Meta Superintelligence Labs that’s made up of top AI researchers and engineers.
Zhao’s name was listed among other new hires in the June memo, but Zuckerberg said Friday that Zhao co-founded the lab and “has been our lead scientist from day one.” Zhao will work directly with Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI who is acting as Meta’s chief AI officer.
“Shengjia has already pioneered several breakthroughs including a new scaling paradigm and distinguished himself as a leader in the field,” Zuckerberg wrote in a social media post. “I’m looking forward to working closely with him to advance his scientific vision.”
Read more CNBC tech news
In addition to co-creating ChatGPT, Zhao helped build OpenAI’s GPT-4, mini models, 4.1 and o3, and he previously led synthetic data at OpenAI, according to Zuckerberg’s June memo.
Meta Superintelligence Labs will be where employees work on foundation models such as the open-source Llama family of AI models, products and Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research projects.
The social media company will invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” into AI compute infrastructure, Zuckerberg said earlier this month.
“The next few years are going to be very exciting!” Zuckerberg wrote Friday.
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, speaks on a panel titled Power, Purpose, and the New American Century at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Palantir has hit another major milestone in its meteoric stock rise. It’s now one of the 20 most valuable U.S. companies.
The provider of software and data analytics technology to defense agencies saw its stock rise more than 2% on Friday to another record, lifting the company’s market cap to $375 billion, which puts it ahead of Home Depot and Procter & Gamble. The company’s market value was already higher than Bank of America and Coca-Cola.
Palantir has more than doubled in value this year as investors ramp up bets on the company’s artificial intelligence business and closer ties to the U.S. government. Since its founding in 2003 by Peter Thiel, CEO Alex Karp and others, the company has steadily accrued a growing list of customers.
Revenue in Palantir’s U.S. government business increased 45% to $373 million in its most recent quarter, while total sales rose 39% to $884 million. The company next reports results on Aug. 4.
Buying the stock at these levels requires investors to pay hefty multiples. Palantir currently trades for 273 times forward earnings, according to FactSet. The only other company in the top 20 with a triple-digit ratio is Tesla at 175.
With $3.1 billion in total revenue over the past year, Palantir is a fraction the size of the next smallest company by sales among the top 20 by market cap. Mastercard, which is valued at $518 billion, is closest with sales over the past four quarters of roughly $29 billion.
CEO Elon Musk first teased the concept of building a drive-in themed charging station in 2018. On Monday, that vision was finally realized. Tesla describes the two-story restaurant, constructed of a steel exterior inspired by the Cybertruck, as retro-futuristic. It features 80 charging stalls and two 66-foot megascreens playing a rotation of short films, feature-length movies and Tesla videos.
The diner operates 24/7 serving classic American comfort food, such as burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes, to both electric vehicle owners charging their cars and the general public. CNBC visited the site and spoke with early patrons, who praised both the design and the food.
“It’s pretty cool. It has a very vintage vibe, but futuristic vibe at the same time” said Taju, who stopped by with a friend who drives a Tesla.
“I would bring friends from out of town, they would be very impressed coming to a place like this” said Don, a Model 3 owner who visited with his wife and neighbor.
Also on display for a limited time was Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, which served popcorn and interacted playfully with guests. Less than 24 hours after opening, the line to order food stretched around the block.
Musk has said that if the concept proves successful, Tesla may open similar diner Supercharger stations in other major cities.
Watch the video to see what it’s like inside Tesla’s first diner charging station.