Apple and Samsung are once again the top smartphone makers by market share, but this is also a year where supply shortages and slowing sales have hampered the industry as a whole.
Technology analyst Canalys reports that global smartphone shipments in Q4 2022 fell 17% year-on-year, while full-year shipments fell 11% to just under 1. 2 billion. Analyst IDC estimates the industry shipped 1.24 billion smartphones in 2022, with no growth for 2023.
But Apple’s iPhone reached its highest market share, at 25%, in the fourth quarter. It has traded top spot with Samsung twice since 2020, both times also in the fourth quarter, in line with its launch of new iPhones in September.
Samsung, which is expected to launch its Galaxy S23 series on February 1, ended this quarter with a global market share of 20%. In third place, Xiaomi had an 11% share, while Oppo and Vivo had 10% and 8% respectively.
Declining performance
According to Canalys, this quarter was the worst fourth quarter performance for smartphone shipments in a decade.
And smartphones aren’t the only ones struggling. PC shipments are also in the doldrums, with consumers and now businesses limiting spending. PC shipments for the year 2022 reached 286.2 million units, down 16.2% from 2021, according to analyst Gartner. PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 were down 28.5% from a year earlier, the biggest drop Gartner has recorded since it began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s.
This decline was partly explained by supply chain issues related to Covid-19 in China during the quarter, but also by retailers being reluctant to hold too much inventory. In November, Apple was grappling with disruptions at Foxconn’s iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou. Apple has warned that shipments during the holiday season will be lower than expected due to these disruptions.
“Smartphone vendors have struggled in a challenging macroeconomic environment throughout 2022. The fourth quarter marks the worst annual and quarterly performance in a decade,” said Runar Bjørhovde, research analyst at Canalys.
“The distribution channel is very cautious about acquiring new inventory, which contributed to weak deliveries in the fourth quarter. Supported by strong promotional incentives from sellers and channels, the Christmas sales season helped reduce inventory levels. While low to mid-range demand fell rapidly in previous quarters, high-end demand began to show weakness in the fourth quarter. Market performance in the fourth quarter of 2022 contrasts sharply with that of the fourth quarter of 2021, which had seen a rise in demand and an easing of supply problems. »
The slowdown in new smartphone shipments comes as second-hand and refurbished smartphone shipments hit all-time highs. IDC projects used smartphone shipments will increase from 283 million in 2022 to 413 million in 2016. The used segment has grown due to sellers such as Samsung and Apple using trade-in programs to fuel sales of new models.
Source: ZDNet.com