The last two-three years have been chaotic for almost all industries. The smartphone market is no exception. Global inflation, supply chain disruptions, rising raw material prices, and other factors and changes made smartphone manufacturers face unprecedented challenges. Honestly, not all of them are able to withstand them. For instance, Meizu stopped making new phones; OnePlus had to unify with two others; all brands revised their strategies. These metamorphoses surely have their impact on the niche. Yesterday, Strategy Analytics published its latest report for the global smartphone market. According to the market research firm, global smartphone shipments will drop by 10% year-on-year in 2022. The decline will continue until 2023 and is expected to fall by 5% year-on-year. It will hit the lowest level since 2014.
Global smartphone market trends
The report showed that the top ten smartphone brands in terms of shipments in the first ten months of this year are: Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO, Transsion, Honor, Realme, Lenovo (Motorola), and Huawei.
[By the way, just a few years ago, Huawei was in the second position. Thus, it was a head higher than the Cupertino-based company. This is one of the main reasons why the US government banned it. ]
Samsung and Apple will maintain the top two positions with improved market share, and both will outperform the overall market this year and next.
In contrast, the cold winter of China-based first-tier brands is gradually approaching. The performance of companies such as Xiaomi, OPPO (OnePlus), and VIVO will be lower than that of the overall market. Among them, Xiaomi’s performance is the most stable due to global markets.
As for now, there is an interesting trend – most customers are delaying the purchase of new electronic products and prioritizing consumer spending on daily necessities. This trend will continue to inhibit the development of the smartphone market for one to two years.