Samsung and Apple would have lost 4% in the number of smartphones sold in 2022. This underperformance would not prevent them from gaining an additional advantage over their competitors.
Smartphone manufacturers communicate very little about their sales figures, to get an idea of the state of the market you have to turn to analysis firms. Last week, Canalys, which bases its calculation method on smartphone shipments from factories, described a difficult year 2022, to say the least, with three brands in the top 5 posting double-digit drops. Only Samsung and Apple seemed relatively safe.
It’s IDC’s turn to release smartphone sales figures in 2022. The two firms seem to be in pretty much agreement on the general observation, namely a drop in sales of 11.3% for IDC and 11% for Canalys. The two come together to say that almost 1.2 billion new phones have been sold in 2022.
everyone in trouble
Where the IDC numbers differ is in the scale of the crisis. While Canalys trails a loss of just 0.91% for Apple and 3.83% for Samsung, the two leaders may have suffered more than you think according to IDC. Count -4.01% for Samsung and -4% for Apple, that is, almost 12 million fewer smartphones sold for Samsung and just over 9 million fewer for Apple.
Should we see there the effects of the absence of significant renewals or is it simply the crisis that is hitting the portfolios? Probably another explanation is found in the increasing robustness of the devices, whatever the range.
The other players in the top 5 are doing even worse according to IDC. Here is the detail:
- Top 3, Xiaomi: -19.8% with almost 38 million less sold phones;
- Top 4, Oppo: -22.7% with almost 30 million fewer devices;
- Top 5, Vivo: -22.8% with almost 29 million fewer devices.
One thing is certain, even if Apple and Samsung are unscrewing a bit, this year 2022 has clearly strengthened its position in the world of smartphones. The two brands saw their market share increase to 21.6% of sales and 18.8%, where Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo dropped a point or two. So don’t be surprised if your favorite Chinese brands are a bit more cautious in 2023.
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