The numbers for smartphone shipments for Q1 2022 are in, and only Samsung and Apple seem to have made any growth over the period. This is according to Canalys, a company that deals with data analysis across various industries.
Canalys reports that, overall, smartphones shipments fell by 11% year on year mainly because of unfavourable economic conditions and sluggish seasonal demand often seen in the first quarter of the year.
Despite this drop in shipments, the two biggest names in the industry, Samsung and Apple, still managed to gain market share with the South Korean company increasing its share from 22% in Q1 2021 to 24% while Apple’s share in the market grew from 15% to 18% over the same period.
Xiaomi, thanks to the Redmi Note series selling well, retained third place despite its overall market share dropping by 1% from 14% in Q1 2021 to 13% for Q1 2022.
Oppo (including OnePlus) and vivo complete the top five with 10% and 8% shares of the market. The two companies also saw a 1% and 2% respective drop in their market share, leaving only Samsung and Apple in the top five as the companies which recorded positive growth for the ended period.
“Despite the looming uncertainty in global markets, the leading vendors accelerated their growth by broadening device portfolios for 2022… At the same time, Samsung ramped up production of its popular A series to compete aggressively in the mid-to-low-end segment while refreshing its 2022 portfolio, including its flagship Galaxy S22 series. While Chinese vendors are still suffering supply constraints at the low end, their global expansion is being hampered by a slowdown in their home market,” Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia says in a statement.
Chaurasia goes on to explain that Apple also diversified its portfolio by launching the new iPhone SE in March, which has turned out to be an important midrange volume driver for the company.
Despite the iPhone SE retailing at a similar price point to its predecessor, it offers an upgraded chipset and improved battery performance and also adds 5G connectivity that most people and operator channels are demanding.
This makes it a very attractive package at an affordable cost for anyone looking for a mid-range device.
In terms of overall growth for the industry, Canalys VP of Mobility Nicole Peng says that a spike in COVID-19 cases played a part in slowing the market growth, while vendors are still facing uncertainty due to the Russia-Ukraine war. In addition to all this, China is still rolling out new lockdown measures, while also the looming threat of inflation hangs in the air.
“The good news is that the painful component shortages might improve sooner than expected, which will certainly help relieve cost pressures,” concludes Nicole Peng
If her statement holds true, then for the first time since the pandemic hit, the overall prices of electronics should gradually go down to pre-pandemic levels. The number of items out of stock should also significantly reduce as manufacturing and shipping lines are restored to normal.
The chip shortages had hit hard, with some companies even delaying releases of their products since they could not get a reliable source of materials needed to mass-produce the finished goods.
