Key highlights
- The global smartphone market declined for the 5th consecutive quarter, falling by 12% year-on-year in Q1 2023.
- Samsung lost part of its market share to the decline in smartphone demands in Q1 but retained its position as number one.
- Analysts at Canalys said the decline was expected as the global economy had not improved.
Smartphone manufacturers, Samsung and Xiaomi, lost part of their market shares in Q1 2023 as the lull in the global smartphone market continued.
This is according to the latest report by Canalys, a global smartphone analyst company that monitors shipments by device makers.
According to the report, the global smartphone market experienced a fifth consecutive quarter of decline, falling by 12% year-on-year in Q1 2023.
This impacted Samsung, which though remained at the top, recorded a decline from 24% market share in Q1 2022 to 22% in Q1 2023. Xiaomi, which is number 3 globally in terms of smartphone market share also recorded a decline from 13% to 11% in Q1 2023.
iPhone maker, Apple, however, recorded an increase in its share of the market in the same period. The company jumped from 18% in Q1 2022 to 21% in 2023 and retained its number 2 position behind Samsung.
The decline in the smartphone market expected
Commenting on the report, an Analyst at Canalys, Sanyam Chaurasia, said the smartphone market’s decline in the first quarter of 2023 was expected because the economic conditions have not improved globally.
- “The local macroeconomic conditions continued to hinder vendors’ investments and operations in several markets. Despite price cuts and heavy promotions from vendors, consumer demand remained sluggish, particularly in the low-end segment due to high inflation affecting consumer confidence and spending.
- “Additionally, the continuous sluggish end-user demand has triggered a major wave of destocking across the entire supply chain, with channels reducing inventory levels to secure operations. To maintain a low level of sell-in volume, vendors continued to use cautious production techniques, which had a long-term negative impact on the component supply chain’s operational performance,” he said.
Healthy inventory expected in Q2
While noting that there have been some signs of moderation in the continued decline, another Canalys Analyst, Toby Zhu, said there have been improvements in demand for certain smartphone products and price bands.
- “Canalys predicts that the inventory of the smartphone industry, irrespective of channel or vendor, can reach a relatively healthy level by the end of the second quarter of 2023. It is still too early to predict the recovery of overall consumer demand. However, the sell-in volume of the global smartphone market is expected to improve due to the reduction in inventories in the next few quarters.
- “In addition, vendors have focused more on innovations and raising production and channel efficiencies after a round of fluctuations, shifting from growing for volumes and shares to growing for quality. 5G popularization and foldable phones are also becoming the new driving forces in the industry,” Zhu said.
Canalys last year forecasted flat to marginal growth for the smartphone market in 2023, with conditions expected to remain tough.
