The global smartphone market has again seen a fifth straight quarter of decline, falling 12% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, in terms of sales. Despite limited improvements in key macro unfavorable factors, the market has yet to recover.
Samsung is the only manufacturer to have a quarterly recovery and has returned to the top spot with a 22% market share. Apple, meanwhile, slipped to second place with a 21% market share, narrowing the gap between itself and Samsung, driven by solid demand for its iPhone 14 Pro series in the first quarter of 2023.
Xiaomi maintained third position with an 11% market share, boosted by new product launches towards the end of the quarter. OPPO and Vivo strengthened their positions in the Asia-Pacific region and in their home markets, with a global market share of 10% and 8%, respectively.
Sanyam Chaurasia, an analyst at Canalys, said that the decline of the smartphone market in the first quarter of 2023 was in the expectations of the entire sector. Local macroeconomic conditions continued to hamper suppliers' investments and operations in several markets. Despite price cuts and strong promotions from suppliers, consumer demand remained sluggish, particularly in the low-cost segment due to high inflation which has affected consumer confidence and spending.
In addition, he says, the continuous and sluggish demand from the final consumer has triggered a large wave of stock reductions throughout the supply chain, with channels reducing stock levels to guarantee operations. In order to maintain a low level of sales volume, suppliers continued to use cautious production techniques, which had a negative long-term impact on the operational performance of the component supply chain.
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Despite all this, analysts are “detecting some signs of moderation in the continued decline”. That is, there were some improvements in demand for certain smartphones and price ranges. Additionally, some smartphone vendors are more active in production planning and component ordering.
Canalys predicts that smartphone industry inventory, regardless of channel or vendor, could reach a relatively healthy level by the end of Q2023 XNUMX.
5G technologies and foldable smartphones are being seen as the “new driving forces in the industry”.
