What you need to know
- According to the latest report, smartphone shipments will drop by 17% in 2022.
- Apple took the top spot in Q2 2022 thanks to the iPhone 14 series.
- Samsung shipped the most smartphones throughout 2022.
Now that we’re in 2023, we’re starting to understand how 2022 fares as smartphone vendors navigate tough economic times. Preliminary market reports from Canalys show that OEMs are struggling to get handsets into the hands of consumers as Samsung and Apple vie for the top spot.
According to the report, smartphone shipments fell by 11% for the year and recovered slightly in Q4, but still saw shipments fall by a whopping 17% in this quarter compared to Q4 2021. bottom.
“Smartphone vendors have struggled in a challenging macroeconomic environment throughout 2022, with Q4 marking their worst annual and Q4 performance in a decade,” said research analyst at Canalys. Runar Bjørhovde says. They say this is due to weak demand for high-end smartphones and an overall reluctance to bring in new inventory.
Despite weak demand for flagships, Apple was able to regain the top spot in the smartphone market, accounting for 25% of smartphone shipments. According to Canalys, this is the highest share in the quarter, beating out Samsung in Q4, which had only 20% of his share of the market. This has arguably supplanted Samsung’s best foldable phones thanks to its latest flagship phones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which launched in September.
Still, Samsung managed to beat Apple all year long with a 22% share in 2022 versus Apple’s 19%. Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo are also among the top five smartphone vendors throughout Q4 and 2022.
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Canalys does not expect the situation to improve in 2023, suggesting that OEMs will have to make tough decisions to adapt to the market. Le Xuan Chiew, his analyst at Canalys Research, said: “Vendors are cutting costs to adapt to new market realities.”
Samsung is gearing up to launch its latest flagship series on February 1st. The Galaxy S23 series boasts faster processors, improved cameras and larger batteries, and is expected to offer a more consistent design across models. Whether it’s attractive enough to give Samsung the boost it needs remains to be seen, though.
