Smartphone Sales Down 13% in Q1 2023 but Apple Grows!
Global smartphone sales in Q1 2023 closed at 269.8 million units declining 13% YoY. Top 5 vendors' sales growth rate fell except Apple seeing positive. Expecting market will gain momentum in the second half of the year.
April 27, 2023 - According to a recent Canalys report on global smartphone shipments fell by 13% to 269.8 million units in Q1 2023.
Samsung's performance showed early signs of recovery after the end of 2022, with new products launched driving sales high, according to Runar Bjørhovde, Canalys analyst
However, it is expected that Samsung will continue to struggle with the inventory of entry-level smartphones. Also, the decline in its semiconductor memory business made Samsung more conservative in spending on marketing.
But the interesting part is that Apple was the only major brand to experience growth, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Here, Apple’s sustained investments into offline channels enabled it to attract growing clients in middle-class, which places high value on the in-store purchasing experience.
According to analyst Lucas Zhong, Apple's mid-range price segment has started to recover after huge declined last year. Vendors offered promotions with value of money campaigns for customers with limited purchasing power. This is supported by decreasing component prices and vendors accelerating spec upgrades for mid-range product portfolios. However, this year the demand for mid-range smartphones will remain limited due to economic challenges and missing differentiators among this price smartphone. Moreover, when the quantity of inventory becomes more precise. Smartphone parts can quickly become more expensive. This makes the demand for cheap but high-spec smartphones decrease in the long term.
Canalys forecasts the market to a marginal decline in 2023. Zhong added that the smartphone market will gain momentum in the second half of the year as channel inventories reach healthier levels.
Top 5 brands for Global Smartphone Shipments in Q1 2023, according to Canalys report:
1. Samsung sales 60.3 million units, 18% decrease, 22% market share
2. Apple sales 58.0 million units, 3% increase, 21% market share
3. Xiaomi sales 30.5 million units, 22% decrease , 11% market share
4. Oppo sales 26.6 million units, 8% decrease, 10% market share
5. Vivo sales 20.9 million units, 17% decrease, 8% market share
