Budget smartphones dominated the Latin American market in 2024

If you walked into a phone store in Latin America in 2024, chances are the best-selling models weren’t the latest flagship devices. They were budget smartphones—affordable, practical, and everywhere. People weren’t chasing the most cutting-edge tech; they were looking for the best deal.

That demand drove a record 137 million smartphone shipments in the region, up 15% from the previous year, with nearly all the growth (98%) coming from devices priced under $200. per Canalys data. Brands that could deliver decent performance at the lowest price won big and it was fierce competition, leaving Apple out of the top 5.

Samsung held onto its lead, shipping 42.9 million units, but the real shake-up happened just below it.

Motorola, long the comfortable second-place player, found itself under pressure as Xiaomi closed in, shipping just 100,000 fewer units. Meanwhile, brands like TRANSSION–a name that was barely on the radar a few years ago–and HONOR made some of the biggest leaps, growing 40% and 79% respectively.

But with all this movement in the budget segment, there’s a looming question: how sustainable is this kind of growth? Selling millions of low-cost phones is great for market share, but it’s not exactly a goldmine. Profit margins are razor-thin, and as competition intensifies, it’s getting harder for brands to make real money.

Miguel Pérez, Senior Analyst at Canalys, put it bluntly:

"The market is growing, but most of it is happening in low-margin categories, and that’s a risky game for manufacturers in the long run."

Looking ahead to 2025, Canalys is forecasting a slight 1% decline in smartphone shipments, signalling that the rapid growth of the past year may slow down.

The real test now is whether brands can shift demand toward higher-value devices—not just the cheapest ones. Latin America has always been a price-sensitive market, but the brands that figure out how to move consumers up the value chain will be the ones that truly win.

For years, the real action in Latin America's smartphone market hasn’t always been at the top of the market—it is at the bottom.

For now, the budget smartphone boom is in full swing. But the next phase of the battle won’t just be about who sells the most phones—it’ll be about who can convince people to buy something better.