Top 15 Apple Competitors (Updated in 2023)

Apple’s Competitors include top brands like Dell, Samsung, Lenovo, Microsoft,  Sony, Acer, Huawei, Oppo and many others. Apple has presence in multiple product lines due to which there is a huge list of Direct and Indirect Apple Competitors.

Technical innovations, minimalistic designs, and creative marketing, Apple Inc. has branded itself as a game changer in the smartphone, laptop, and entertainment technology industry.

The company which was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs alongside his friends Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne started off humbly but grew slowly as the three became more innovative and business smart.

Every product of Apple launched is a revolution. Right from the iPhone, iPod, iPad and even the Macintosh line of computers. The later in particular made several headlines with its very sleek designs and innovative technology. Today, Apple has about six range of computers namely, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook mini, and iMac. The company also avails accessories for all its computer products.

Aside from the success, Apple has gained from its line of Mac computers; their smartphones are also doing well in the global market. Apple is undoubtedly one of the few brands that have enjoyed consistent success. Brand loyalty is the main reason for this success together with exceptional revenue growth which was $383.933B for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023. In 2023, Apple’s brand value amounted to approximately 880.5 billion U.S. dollars. 

Apple offers a wide range of products, and the company remains a fierce competitor in several markets ranging from laptops, entertainment media to smartphone mobiles. Here is a list of the top 15 Apple competitors:

Top 15 Apple’s Competitors

1) Dell

• Product Type: Personal computers, Computer hardware, Computer software
• Industry: Information technology.
• Founded: February 4, 1984, in Austin, Texas, United States.
• Founders: Michael Dell.
• Headquarters: Round Rock, Texas, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Michael S. Dell
• Revenue: $20.922B (April 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $39.95B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 133,000(2023)

Dell is majorly known as a manufacturer of desk-based and mobile PCs. With regards to competition, Dell majorly competes with HP, Acer, and Lenovo. It however also competes with Apple in the market of consumer PCs. Competition between Dell and Apple began when the former launched a rival product Dell DJ that although brought in significant revenue, it still didn’t match the standards and success of Apples iPod. With a few years have passed on, these two companies even compete fiercely with Dell’s XPS line taking Apple head-on in the PC market.

While we can’t give clear statics to show how well Dell is doing right now, speculation indicates that the company through significant acquisitions and partnerships has seen it double its sales and revenue in the recent years. Unfortunately, Dell does not have smartphones and hence it is one of the Apple Competitors only for Laptops and is a primary competitor for Macbook. Dell is ranked 31st on the Fortune 500 list in 2022, up from 76th in 2021. It is also the sixth-largest company in Texas by total revenue, according to Fortune magazine.

Dell gross profit for the quarter ending April 30, 2023 was $5.018B. Dell net income for the quarter ending April 30, 2023 was $0.583B.

2) Lenovo

• Product Type: Personal computers, Computer hardware, Computer software
• Industry: Information technology.
• Founded: 1984, in Beijing, China.
• Founders: Liu Chuanzhi, Yang Yuanqing, and eight other engineers.
• Headquarters: Beijing, China.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Yang Yuanqing
• Revenue: $12.635B (March 31, 2023)
• Market cap: $11.18B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 77,000 (2023)

Lenovo Group is a Chinese company that provides consumer PCs, mobile phones, and consumer electronics as well as software systems. Although the company enjoyed tremendous success, it was until it acquired IBM Corporation that Lenovo gained popularity as the world leading PCs vendor. Today, Lenovo employees over 77,000 employees and has reported an estimated revenue of $12.635B in the financial year of 2023.

Lenovo Group net income for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $0.114B. Lenovo Group gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $2.143B.

Lenovo is one of the Apple Competitors for all its products – Smartphones, Laptops and Tablets. Lenovo has an excellent range of laptops and has an in depth product portfolio. Although it lacks in Marketing and Brand equity.

3) Samsung

• Product Type: Consumer electronics
• Industry: Electronics, technology, and manufacturing.
• Founded: March 1, 1938, in Daegu, South Korea.
• Founders: Lee Byung-chul.
• Headquarters: Samsung Town, Samsung, Seoul, South Korea.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Han Jong-hee
• Revenue: KRW 60.01 trillion (June 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $330.48 Billion (August 2023)
• Number of employees: 270,320 (2022)

Samsung personal computers are a top favorite among consumers. Their devices are well assembled and feature great configuration and design. The quality of these products is excellent, and their prices are affordable to all. Samsung has maintained a loyal following of users who report great satisfaction with Samsung’s PCs. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones and smartphones, starting with the original Samsung Solstice and later, the popularity of its Samsung Galaxy line of devices.

Also, brand Samsung has a significant share of the Smartphone market. Samsung smartphones have revolutionized and impelled imitators in the mobile computing industry. Samsung today is one of the largest and most profitable companies in Asia and the world in general.

When compared to Apple, Samsung can be the primary competitor to Apple’s Smartphones – The Iphone. Samsung’s Galaxy series and Note series are both premium series which are the major reason for dents in Iphone sales. Although Samsung is the go to brand for Smartphones, the same cannot be said about its laptop. Samsung does not have an equivalent high brand equity for its laptop segment but due to the residual branding of Smartphone, there is greater awareness and adoption of Samsung Laptops. When we consider Samsung as one of the top Apple competitors, we are definitely considering its smartphone as a competitor much above their laptops.

Operating profit rose sequentially to KRW 0.67 trillion as of second quarter 2023. As of August 2023 Samsung has a market cap of $330.48 Billion. This makes Samsung the world’s 24th most valuable company by market cap.

4) Hewlett Packard

• Product Type: Personal computers, printers, scanners, software, and IT services.
• Industry: Information technology.
• Founded: January 1, 1939, in Palo Alto, California, United States.
• Founders: William R. Hewlett and David Packard.
• Headquarters: Palo Alto, California, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Enrique Lores
• Revenue: $12.913B (April 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $30.62B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 58,000 (2022)

Aside from the interesting story of how the name Hewlett Packard came to be, the company also has an exciting success story. HP was founded in 1939 by two individuals namely Williams Packard and David Hewlett. As a combined entity, HP struggled through various business hurdles to achieve success as a leading consumer PCs vendor. Unfortunately, it had to split up to form HP enterprise and HP Inc. with the later taking on the mantle of manufacturing and supplying computers, printers and offering IT solutions to users.

Post-split, HP Inc., has made tremendous strides as it continues to provide users with quality and affordable products and is. Today with over 300, 000 employees worldwide, HP Inc. competes with top brands like Apple, Acer, and Dell. Hewlett packard also has a wide consultancy presence across the globe and is not concentrated on the US (something which Apple is known for). As a result, Hewlett packard is a strong Macbook competitor and competitor for all Apple laptops.

HP net income for the quarter ending April 30, 2023 was $1.066B. HP gross profit for the quarter ending April 30, 2023 was $2.929B.

5) Microsoft

 

• Product Type: Software, hardware, cloud computing services, and consumer electronics.
• Industry: Technology.
• Founded: April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
• Founders: Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
• Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Satya Nadella
• Revenue: $56.189B (June 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $2351.37B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees:  221,000 (2023)

Microsoft Corporation has made significant contributions to the IT industry. It develops and manufactures computer hardware and software products as well as smartphones. Also, Microsoft licenses software products for computers.

You must know that the founder of Microsoft Bill gates put in every effort to ensure that his company achieves its intended goals, mission and visions. And even though he stepped down from the company, his plans, and vision for the Microsoft Corp. Have become an incredible reality. Today 90% of computers both mobile and desk-based utilize Microsoft software. Even Apples own Mac computers run on Microsoft operating systems. It is unbelievable to say that this company has achieved so much success over the years registering approximately $56.189B by 2023.

Microsoft is also quite famous in other markets like in entertainment products. These include the Xbox and Xbox 360 streams that bring in a significant amount of revenue to this multinational corporation.

Microsoft and Apple have made huge stride through their years. There is stiff competition between these two brands, especially for the computer, smartphone, and entertainment media markets.

Microsoft is a top tech company with a 21% market share worldwide. Microsoft net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $20.081B. Microsoft gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $39.394B.

6) Sony

• Product Type: Consumer electronics, gaming and entertainment
• Industry: Electronics, technology, and media.
• Founded: May 7, 1946, in Tokyo, Japan.
• Founders: Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita.
• Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Kenichiro Yoshida.
• Revenue: $4.957B (June 30, 2023)
• Market cap:$102B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 113,000 (2023)

Sony is a global leader in the market of personal computers which go by the moniker Sony VAIO. Among many others, Sony laptops contribute a significant percentage to the brand’s annual revenues and net worth.

Sony Corporation is one of the leading electronics companies in the world today. For many years now, Sony has put in a lot of effort, resources and time to provide its clientele with nothing but the best of products and services. Its video game consoles, i.e., Sony PlayStation have given brand Sony a notable dominance over the video game market. Nonetheless, Sony does not only dominate the video game industry, but it is also a leading developer, manufacturer, and supplier of top of the line consumer electronics.

Sony net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $1.588B. Sony operating income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $-14.652B. Sony gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $-6.901B.

Through its rich history and notable success, Sony has set its own standards for electronic devices, instead of imitating other brands. Sony is also a competitor to Apple’s iphone though it nowhere near the level of Samsung in competition with Apple.

7) Asus

• Product Type: Motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, smartphones, and more.
• Industry: Information technology.
• Founded: April 2, 1989, in Taipei, Taiwan.
• Founders: T.H. Tung, Ted Hsu, Wayne Hsieh, and M.Y. Liao.
• Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: S.Y. Hsu.
• Revenue: $16.67 B (2023)
• Market cap: $8.99 Billion (August 2023)
• Number of employees:  17,000

ASUS group, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan since 1989, provides customers with PC components and peripherals, notebooks, tablets, servers, and smartphones. Asus employs approximately 17,000 people across the world. Asus is the world’s 5th-largest PC vendor by unit sales as of January 2023.

The company’s strong belief in innovation has seen it grow its brand from a humble motherboard manufacturing company to now a global player in the IT market. Asus is a lower end competitor to Apple and one of the reasons Apple needs to keep an Eye on Asus is because of its small netbooks. Macbook Air is one of the most loved Apple laptops because of small size and weight and battery capacity. Asus has several models which fall close and hence it is considered as one of the Apple Competitors.

ASUS has won numerous awards and recognitions, including being recognized as one of Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies and Interbrand’s ranking as Taiwan’s most valuable international brand. In the second quarter of 2023, PC shipments from Asus amounted to 3.9 million units worldwide.

8) Acer

• Product Type: Information technology
• Industry: Electronics
• Founded: 1 August 1976
• Founders: Stan Shih, Carolyn Yeh and Lemuel Girma
• Headquarters: Xizhi, New Taipei, Taiwan
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Jason Chen
• Revenue: NT$58.26 billion (Q2, 2023)
• Market cap: $3.54 Billion (August 2023)
• Number of employees: over 7,713 (2022)

The history of Acer is quite impressive, from the changing of the brand name from Multitech to Acer to being a globally recognized computer manufacturer and supplier in the world. The company started off as a provider of computer devices and computer hardware back in 1976. Today, Acer has branched out its operations as it now develops, manufactures and supplies, not only computer and its hardware, but it also provides smartphones and entertainment media gadgets to its clientele.

Its Acer aspire series and travel mate series of computers has given Acer a domineering position in the computer market. Acers partnership with Ferrari and entry into the smartphone market have seen the brand evolve from juts single market company into a diverse brand providing a wide range of computer products, hardware, software as well as mobile technologies.

As of September 2022, Acer has over 7,713 employees worldwide, operating in 40 countries/territories. For the second quarter of 2023: gross profits reached NT$6.26 billion. Operating income was NT$1.05 billion, up and Net income was NT$1.39 billion.

9) Toshiba

• Product Type: Consumer electronics, electronic devices, and components.
• Industry: Technology, electronics, and energy.
• Founded: September 1, 1939, in Tokyo, Japan.
• Founders: Ichisuke Fujisawa, Takeshi Yamashita, and Hisashi Shinagawa.
• Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Taro Shimada.
• Revenue: $7.874B (March 31, 2023)
• Market cap: $13.52B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 106,648 (2023)

Toshiba is one the widely recognized brands that provide a wide range of electronics. Their devices range from personal computers, television sets, and other consumer electronics. Among these devices, laptops have mainly made brand Toshiba quite popular in the market. This due to the affordable price range, good quality as well available for accessories and spare parts for Toshiba laptops. Toshiba is the world’s leading maker of notebook personal computers and is among the global leaders in semiconductors and LCDs.

Toshiba laptops are made to cater for all. There are those targeted for high-end users just as much as there are consumer friendly units which are way cheaper. Toshiba is rapidly expanding especially in its laptop niche and will most likely prove to be a formidable computer manufactures in the years to come.

Toshiba net income for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $0.365B. Toshiba gross profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 was $2.226B. Toshiba total assets for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 were $26.412B.

10) Pixel

• Product Type: Smartphones, tablets, and smart home products.
• Industry: Consumer electronics.
• Founded: October 20, 2015, by Google.
• Founders: Google.
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Rick Osterloh.

The smartphone industry is dominated by the likes of Blackberry, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and Microsoft. Google, however, has brought in its range of smartphones known as Pixel. These phones have proven to be strong competitors to Apples iPhone and other renowned brands. Pixel was specifically launched to challen the market dominance of the Apple Iphone and to bring a premium phone with an Android OS.

Google products are quite popular among computer and smartphone users and the company today has decided to venture into the smartphones market. Pixel smartphones are fierce contenders among the top Apple Competitors. The phones run on Android operating systems and feature exclusive software. What’s worse is pixels design similarities to that of Apples iPhone which makes the competition between the two even more fierce.

11) Xiaomi

• Product Type: Smartphones, laptops, and other consumer electronics.
• Industry: Consumer electronics.
• Founded: April 6, 2010, in Beijing, China.
• Founders: Lei Jun, Lin Bin, Bin Lin, Zhou Guangping, and Liu De.
• Headquarters: Beijing, China.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Lei Jun.
• Revenue: CNY 59.48 billion (Q1 2023)
• Market cap:$38.34 Billion (August 2023)
• Number of employees: 16,458

Xiaomi is a Chinese company that develops, manufactures and supplies smartphones and consumer electronics. Smartphone enthusiast will agree with us that Xiaomi mobile devices are a great deal to buy considering their affordable pricing and excellent built quality. This Chinese company has come up with sleek design and in the hearts of its Chinese markets as well as the global market. In August 2022, Xiaomi made the Fortune Global 500 list for the fourth time, ranking 266th, up 72 places compared to 2021. Currently, Xiaomi’s products are available in over 100 countries and regions around the world. According to the quarterly report, Xiaomi’s overseas revenue in Q1 2023 was CNY 27 billion.

Different options for the Xiaomi phones are available for various customer segments, and their prices vary accordingly. The phones run on Android operating systems.

12) Huawei

• Product Type: Telecommunications equipment,  and consumer electronics
• Industry: Telecommunications.
• Founded: 1987, in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
• Founders: Ren Zhengfei.
• Headquarters: Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Ren Zhengfei.
• Revenue: CNY310.9 billion (H1, 2023)
• Number of employees: 208,000 (2022)

Huawei is a Chinese multinational technology corporation founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former officer in the People’s Liberation Army. Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. It has 207,000 employees and operates in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Huawei is committed to bringing digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei’s consumer business is building a world-class smart device brand, and in 2017, Huawei shipped a total of 153 million smartphones (including Honor phones), securing more than 10% of the global market share. Huawei is firmly positioned among the top three phone makers in the world and remains the market leader in China.

Huawei reported net profit for 2022 totaled 35.6 billion yuan ($5.18 billion), a 69% year-on-year decline. That’s the biggest annual decline since 2011. Revenue rose 0.9% to 642.3 billion yuan in 2022. Huawei’s consumer business, which houses its smartphone unit, fell more than 11% to 214.5 billion yuan in 2022.

As of 2023, Huawei is the leading 5G equipment manufacturer and has the greatest market share of 5G equipment and has built approximately 70% of worldwide 5G base stations.

13) Oppo

• Product Type: Smartphones, wearables, headphones, power banks, televisions, and other electronic devices.
• Industry: Consumer electronics.
• Founded: May 23, 2004, in Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
• Founders: Tony Chen (Chen Mingyong), Deng Qingping, and Xu Qiping.
• Headquarters: Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Tony Chen

OPPO is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong. Its major product lines include smartphones, smart devices, audio devices, power banks, and other electronic products. The brand name “Oppo” was registered in China in 2001 and launched in 2004. Since then, the company has expanded to 60 countries.

OPPO has significantly increased the production and sales of their smartphone lineup over the past five years, shipping 25.4 million units in the second quarter of 2023. In 2022, Oppo shipped nearly 106 million smartphone units across the globe.  In second third quarter of 2023, OPPO had a global market share of 9.6 percent.

14) Amazon

• Product Type: E-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming
• Industry: Technology.
• Founded: July 5, 1994, in Seattle, Washington, United States.
• Founders: Jeff Bezos.
• Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Andy Jassy
• Revenue: $134.383B (June 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $1374.53B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 1,541,000 (2022)

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer and a prominent cloud service provider. It was originally started as an online bookselling company, but it has since evolved into an internet-based business enterprise that is largely focused on providing e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence (AI) services.

Amazon offers a monumental product range and inventory, enabling consumers to buy just about anything, including clothing, beauty supplies, gourmet food, jewelry, books, movies, electronics, pet supplies, furniture, toys, garden supplies, and household goods. Headquartered in Seattle, Amazon has individual websites, software development centers, customer service centers, data centers, and fulfillment centers around the world.

Amazon’s service gained customer loyalty and ultimate profitability. Its personalization tools recommended other products to buy on the basis of both a customer’s purchasing history and data from buyers of the same items. Its publishing of customer reviews of products fostered a “community of consumers” who helped each other find everything from the right book to the best blender. Beyond retailing, Amazon’s Web services business includes renting data storage and computing resources, so-called “cloud computing,” over the Internet.

Amazon gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $65.010B. Amazon net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $6.750B.

15) IBM

• Product Type: Information technology
• Industry: Technology.
• Founded: June 16, 1911, in Endicott, New York, United States.
• Founders: Charles Ranlett Flint and Thomas J. Watson Sr.
• Headquarters: Armonk, New York, United States.
• Area served: Worldwide.
• Current CEO: Arvind Krishna.
• Revenue: $15.475B (June 30, 2023)
• Market cap: $128.83B (August 18, 2023)
• Number of employees: 350,000

IBM, or International Business Machines, is a multinational technology company that specializes in producing and selling computer hardware, middleware, and software. Founded in 1911, IBM is one of the oldest technology companies in the world and has a long history of innovation and leadership in the industry. IBM is known for its wide range of products and services, including its mainframe computers, which are used by many large corporations and government agencies around the world. IBM is also known for its AI-powered Watson platform, which is used in a variety of applications such as healthcare, finance, and customer service. 

Additionally, IBM is a well-known provider of IT services and consulting, helping businesses to optimize their operations and implement new technologies. IBM is one of the biggest technology companies in the world, with operations in more than 175 countries. IBM has also served as a major research and development corporation over the years, with significant inventions like the floppy disk, the hard disk drive, and the UPC barcode. IBM researchers have been awarded Nobel Prizes, Turing Awards, and other top honors for their work throughout its history.

IBM gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $8.501B. IBM net income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $1.583B. IBM operating income for the quarter ending June 30, 2023 was $1.914B.

The Above were all Apple Competitors in the market. Some of them have a strong presence in Laptops whereas others have a strong presence in Smartphones.

Can you suggest any further Apple competitors? Feel free to comment below.

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