A new report from Canalys says that the global smartphone market has fallen for the third time in a row this year.
The analyst firm found that sales in the third quarter of 2022 were down 9% from the same period last year as consumers around the world tightened their belts to buy essentials.
The bad news may continue as well, as Canalys says it expects this trend to continue over the next six to nine months.
widespread effect
Canalys found that all major smartphone makers have been affected to varying degrees. Apple was the only company that actually experienced positive growth in this period, as demand for the latest iPhone models remained strong, with the tech giant now holding an 18% market share.
On the front, Samsung remains the most dominant player in the global market with a share of 22%, thanks to massive promotions aimed at changing the stock. Other vendors that rounded out the top five – Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo – retained their market shares (14%, 10% and 9%, respectively) but were reluctant to expand abroad due to the economic turmoil.
Canalys analyst Amber Liu said that since the smartphone market is so sensitive, it reacts aggressively to lower demand. This has forced sellers to sell inventory by offering deep discounts and promotions to avoid stockpiling.
Consumers are also easily spooked by price increases due to the current global economic climate, forcing even Apple to do so Pricing their products more carefully. All of that may change with the height of the upcoming trading season, with sellers seeing Black Friday and Internet Monday as the perfect opportunity to turn some stocks around.
Another analyst at Canalys, Sanyam Chaurasia, said that demand appears to remain stagnant until the first half of 2023, which means sellers will have to plan carefully in advance with their supply chain to avoid oversupply and assess their prices to maintain market shares.
She also said that as consumers reduce their outside income on basics, they can expect cuts on older generations of devices and bundle deals. “Compared to the previous year’s strong demand period, slow but steady festive selling is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022,” it added.