Business

New shipping records, local manufacturing facilities and a lead on AI features could secure Apple’s pole position in Latin America

Article authored by Aonghus McMahon, Head of Product at Sim Local

While the Apple brand has been responsible for countless cult tech classics, its dominance in regional markets is often lower than might be expected given the popularity and infamy of its products. 

When it comes to the smartphone market, for example, Latin America has long looked to Android competitors for its devices. In fact, Samsung has held the title of biggest smartphone brand in the region for a decade now. 

Yet the last year in particular has begun to show signs that Samsung’s reigning era in LATAM could face some tough competition. 

One sign of Apple’s growing popularity across LATAM can be found in the increase in flagship stores in recent years. For many, heading to an Apple store to check out the latest releases or get expert advice on gadgets and upgrades is a major part of the experience that also acts as a major contributor to brand loyalty. However, despite the region’s proximity to the US, the number of official Apple stores or even authorized third-party resellers has remained limited. 

Since 2019, the tides have been changing here, with high-end Apple stores popping up in some of the most exclusive neighborhoods of cities including Mexico City and Sao Paulo, and a unique online offering for the citizens of Chile. 

In addition, after a difficult couple of years, the popularity of Apple’s iPhone is finally back on the up with customers worldwide. Apple re-entered the Top 5 smartphone companies at second place with the launch of its new iPhone 16 series. 

Fresh demand for iPhone handsets and the latest sales figures from Samsung suggest that the latter’s hold on the region could be weakening as we look ahead to 2025.

Let’s take a closer look at the figures that give us more insight. 

Changing winds seen in smartphone shipments 

One of the most immediate and prominent places that suggest Apple is set to grow its share of Latin America’s smartphone markets can be found in shipping figures for the region

Although Samsung has long led at the front of the pack and remains in pole position, its share of the market dropped by a significant 32%, with overall shipping demand down by 2% in Q2 2024 compared to the same period the year prior. 

In contrast, Apple grew its share in both volume and pricing. According to a report from the research group Market Monitor, Apple’s success can be attributed to strategic pricing strategies and the popularity of legacy models, creating a very noticeable growth of 44% between 2023 and 2024. 

Aonghus McMahon (Photo Credit: LinkedIn)

Brazil represented the main growth driver, followed by Mexico for Apple, with a focus on locally assembled legacy models of both 4G and 5G models. Yet sales were up across all LATAM countries save for Argentina, attributed to the country’s ongoing economic woes. Of particular note was news earlier this year that will see iPhone 15’s, and potentially other models in the future, manufactured in Brazil itself. In a country where new handsets can often retail for double the equivalent price of North American neighbors, this local production is expected to start bringing down these high price tags to regional consumers by saving on logistics and other transportation costs. 

However, it’s also important to finish this section by pointing out that the smartphone market in LATAM presents warm conditions for all players, with a 14.5% year-on-year shipment increase noted for all smartphone vendors. 

This suggests that demand is ripe across the region, and the outcome of who holds first place on market share in the years ahead will hinge on enticing features and catering to market desires. On this front, Apple has two unique offerings. 

The rise of embedded SIM cards

Looking further into the future, Apple’s decision to take a strategic bet on the rise of eSIMs could also see its market share of smartphone sales in LATAM rise further. Short for ‘embedded SIM’ the rise of eSIMs has represented one of the most major shifts to smartphone connectivity in recent years. 

In 2022, Apple decided to make a bold decision during the development of the iPhone 14 to do away with physical SIM ports and rely on eSIM technology alone in the US market. As with Apple’s decisions over the years to do away with things like headphone ports, the decision was viewed as radical at the time. 

Yet if we fast forward to 2024, the chips are in for Apple’s bet on the future direction of SIM card technology. 

When discussing eSIMs these are most often placed within the context of global travel. And while this is one major use case and reason behind the growth volume of eSIMs worldwide since 2022, they also represent a much more functional trend that supports Apple’s ongoing quest to deliver a streamlined smartphone experience. 

While users of other smartphone providers can choose to add an eSIM on top of the physical card when traveling or for added flexibility, Apple’s approach to gradually integrate eSIM functionality while still offering the choice between a physical SIM and eSIM is a strategic move. It allows users outside of the USA to ease into the eSIM experience while benefiting from the freedom, flexibility, and sustainability that eSIMs offer. However, if Apple can continue refining the eSIM activation process, it feels inevitable that the future will be eSIM-only.

Circling back to LATAM markets, an eSIM-driven future looks likely here too. For instance, we already know that Brazil is one of the major growth drivers for smartphone sales of both Apple models and other manufacturers. Now, a major announcement from Wireless Logic suggests the country will also act as a test case for future eSIM adoption within LATAM. 

Using its partnerships with around 200 mobile network operators, Wireless Logic offers eSIM solutions that seek to overcome regulated roaming restrictions for organizations with multi-country IoT deployments.

More broadly, a recent report published by RCR Wireless noted that 34% of operators in LATAM have already launched an eSIM offering, with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico leading the way. 

The report also noted that eSIM adoption is set to reach 75% in LATAM by the end of the decade. For smartphone manufacturers that have built handsets to prioritize eSIM functionality as seen with Apple, this could turn out to be a major deciding factor for consumers in the very near future. 

Best-in-class AI service offering 

Finally, the phenomenal potential of AI is going to be something consumers increasingly expect to see as a standard feature of smartphones as the technology becomes more ubiquitous each year. 

Apple’s partnership with OpenAI marks a shift from Siri’s basic assistance to a context-aware, proactive AI that learns user habits to enhance daily activities. This integration enables seamless functionality across iPhones, iPads, and Macs, offering users a more unified, personalised experience. As AI becomes central to the Apple ecosystem, this evolution strengthens user loyalty, positioning Apple as a leader in delivering cohesive, intelligent device interactions tailored to individual needs.

The release of Apple’s iPhone 16 has shown AI takes an even more leading role than in previous handsets, with AI as an embedded assistant across most activities. While Siri was groundbreaking in its day, Apple hadn’t released significant updates to the assistant’s capabilities in a number of release cycles. 

Yet after seeing the strength of ChatGPT, the company announced a strategic pivot earlier this year, announcing a partnership with OpenAI itself at the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC. It’s important to note that Apple has typically been fiercely married to producing original products and features, suggesting the decision to partner, rather than compete, with ChatGPT was a significant change in approach. 

Fast-forward to October 2024 and the long-awaited launch of Apple Intelligence is now live on iOS 18.1. The new update will bring users with a huge range of AI-driven features directly to their handsets, silencing critics that the brand was losing its edge after failing to act quickly enough here. 

Given that other brands have already integrated generative AI features into their handsets and Apple’s latest ChatGPT integrated offering, it’s safe to say that the technology is already a standard feature in smartphones that buyers in LATAM and beyond will look to see in the latest models. 

Changing smartphone preferences in LATAM 

The battle for supremacy between Samsung and Apple within smartphone markets is an ongoing global trend. Yet with embedded eSIM and AI technology combined with rising demand and more local availability to handsets, Apple could finally gain a better foothold in LATAM as these trends suggest change is afoot.

Aonghus McMahon

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