The figure for the third quarter of this year is marginally up from about 295 million units shipped in the second quarter. But that’s likely because of multiple new launches between July and September rather than a rebounding market. Particularly, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 foldables and Apple’s iPhone 14 series may have driven this two percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in smartphone shipment. The sales volume for Q3 2021 was 342 million units.
All major vendors suffered a decline in smartphone shipments in Q3 2022
Samsung has long been the world’s largest smartphone vendor and it continues its reign. But the negative consumer sentiment affected its sales in Q3 2022. The Korean behemoth shipped 64 million smartphones globally this past quarter. That’s down eight percent YoY from 69.3 million units shipped in Q3 2021. Samsung managed to increase its shipments from the second quarter, though (62.5 million units). As said before, the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 foldables in August may have helped the company. Apple launched the iPhone 14 series in September and that helped the company as well. Its shipments grew five percent QoQ and two percent YoY in Q3 2022. Perhaps it was the only brand in the top five to post an annual growth in shipments this past quarter. Xiaomi, Oppo (including OnePlus), and Vico make up the top five and they all suffered declines in their Q3 2021 shipments. While Xiaomi saw a nice percent YoY decline, the latter two were the worst affected by this global slowdown. Both suffered a 23 percent decline from the same period last year. As noted by Counterpoint, Apple and Samsung exiting Russia helped the three Chinese firms rebound after taking massive beatings in the second quarter due to lockdowns in their homeland. Samsung is planning to return to Russia soon, so it may have better results in the fourth quarter. Apple’s iPhone 14 series will also be in full force in Q4, having debuted late in Q3. It should add to positive growth as well. But with the Russia-Ukraine war and the political tensions between China and the US unlikely to ease off anytime soon, the market may not recover much in the year-ending quarter either.
