Canalys, which monitors the global technology market and provides sector reports at regular intervals, deciphered the world's best-selling premium smartphones in the first quarter of 2023 in the latest data it shared. While Samsung has a heavy advantage on the Android side, there is an iPhone dominance in general.

iPhone 14 Pro Max is the clear leader

The report shows that the Galaxy S23 Ultra was the world's best-selling Android smartphone in the first quarter of 2023. Ranked fifth on the list of the world's best-selling high-end smartphones (priced at $500 or more), the S23 Ultra is far from the top. Because at the top of the list is the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which managed to sell about three times more than the S23 Ultra. iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 are in second, third and fourth place respectively. On the other hand, the Galaxy S23 took the seventh place, while the Galaxy S23 Plus took the ninth place. At the bottom of the list, Xiaomi 13 and Huawei Mate 50 ranked thirteenth and fourteenth, respectively. On the other hand, on the foldable smartphones side, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 was the only foldable phone on the list and ranked tenth worldwide in terms of sales in the first quarter of 2023.

The report also shows that people have been buying more high-end phones over the past few years. 22 percent of all smartphones sold in 2019 were priced at $500 or more, but that number rose to 31 percent in the first quarter of 2023. On an annual basis, premium phone sales rose 4.7 percent in the first quarter, while overall smartphone sales fell 13.3 percent.

Top selling high-end phones in 2023 (Q1): 

iPhone 14 Pro Max

iPhone 14 Pro

iPhone 14

iPhone 13

Galaxy S23 Ultra

iPhone 14 Plus

Galaxy S23

iPhone 12

Galaxy S23 Plus

Galaxy Z Flip 4