news hardware Drop in smartphone sales, except for this brand
The smartphone market is in one of its most serious crises. For the first time, a general decline has shaken the industry. However, a brand still holds its own despite the context.
Smartphones will stop selling in 2022
In a report published by Counterpoint, the global smartphone market has declined by 12%. A worrying figure that underscores the downtrend. We talked about this a few days ago, but the end of the year is very complicated for technological manufacturers. Even leading companies like Apple are seeing their iPhone 14 Plus not selling as well as expected.
By the end of 2021, however, the numbers were good and 2022 started off pretty well with a good first quarter. But with the war in Ukraine, the context has become very tense. This even pushed sales below the 300 million units sold in the second quarter. Analyst Harmeet Singh Walia explains:
Most major suppliers continued to report year-on-year declines in shipments in Q3 2022. The escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine, ongoing political distrust and tensions between China and the US, mounting inflationary pressures amid rising recession fears and weakening national currencies all have to offer another dent in consumer confidence and hit already weakened demand.
One smartphone brand is doing well in the storm
We’re obviously talking about Apple, with no surprises. They’re the only ones reporting a positive third quarter. It’s certainly a small 2% increase, but they’re alone. The release of the new iPhone 14s has steered the brand in the right direction. We also note that their second quarter was less good and that the third is little better. So Apple is certainly on the up, but product release dates matter a lot.
The start of the year is very important for Samsung in particular. However, the Korean brand had a great release with the Galaxy Fold 4 and Galaxy Flip 4. Despite record pre-sales, final sales were rather disappointing.
Chinese brands, on the other hand, drink by the cup. However, with the withdrawal of Samsung and Apple in Russia, a boulevard opened to China. They seem to have missed the opportunity and are showing stagnant numbers. The slap is even more severe for Vivo and Oppo, which suffer a 23% drop.
The cause of these drops is explained in
our article on inflation and smartphones
. But in short, inflation is one of the complicating factors of this decline, but not the main cause. The market is evolving and has tended to slow down in recent years, in line with the lack of innovation in the industry. Entry-level and mid-range smartphones are becoming less and less attractive to someone who has had a phone for two years. The renewal cycle of his smartphone has thus increased.