Q3 Smartphone Sales Reach Lowest Level in 10 Years: Report
According to data from Counterpoint Research, the global smartphone market shrank 8% to the lowest third-quarter level in a decade.
The data, shared exclusively with Reuters, showed that the share of the top five brands, which also includes China’s Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, had fallen to a three-year low.
Fans of the report worry that the market’s continued downturn could hurt future earnings for companies like Apple, whose shipments fell 8 percent in the quarter. Market leader Samsung’s sell-through volumes fell by 13% during the period.
Among those gaining market share in the quarter is Apple’s Chinese rival Huawei, which, despite tough US sanctions against it, shocked the industry earlier this year with its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, which uses an advanced domestic chip.
But overall shipments rose 2% across the industry from the second quarter, raising hopes that the market could snap out of more than two years of annual declines in the final three months of the year.
Counterpoint cited the iPhone 15 lineup, which went on sale in September, as a factor that could help revive growth in developed markets such as the US, Europe and Korea.
“After a strong September, we expect the momentum to continue through the end of the year, starting with the full impact of the iPhone 15 series,” the market research firm said.
It said that the festive season in India, 11.11. sales event in China and year-end campaigns in different regions also support the market.
So far, emerging markets have been the bright spot for smartphone sales in an otherwise dismal year. In the third quarter, the Middle East and Africa were the only regions to post annual growth, according to Counterpoint data.
