The global smartphone market witnessed its third successive decline in Q3, 2022. The latest report by Canalys shows a 9% year-on-year market drop, the worst since 2014 due to the global economic slump.
The report attributes the underwhelming mobile phone market to the consumers delaying “purchasing electronic hardware prioritizing essential spending.”
The research firm expects the pattern to haunt the smartphone market for the next six to nine months.
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Samsung dominates but Apple shows positive figures | Q3 2022 smartphone market
Samsung came atop the global phone shipment with a 22% market share. The company is subsiding its blues after piling up 50 million unsold Galaxy phones in its stock in recent months. The South Korean tech giant still ran a negative of 1% less market share from the previous year. Find out the specs and price details of Samsung smartphones in Nepal.
On the other hand, Apple was the only smartphone vendor with positive growth. The US giant boasted an 18% improvement by a 3% market share from 2021. The demand for iPhones has propped up the smartphone OEM’s strong market growth.
| Vendor | Q3 2021 market share | Q3 2022 market share |
| Samsung | 21% | 22% |
| Apple | 15% | 18% |
| Xiaomi | 14% | 14% |
| OPPO | 11% | 10% |
| vivo | 11% | 9% |
| Others | 28% | 27% |
Xiaomi came behind Apple at third with the same 14% market share as last year. The Chinese smartphone giant is a global phenomenon in the mid-range smartphone market disrupting the market for years.
Oppo, and Vivo, have remained resilient with 10%, 9%, and market shares respectively. Chinese companies are cautiously expanding overseas markets amidst uncertain domestic business.
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Smartphone vendors are adjusting to the nature of the market
“The smartphone market is highly reactive to consumer demand and vendors are adjusting quickly to the harsh business conditions,” said Canalys Analyst Amber Liu. “For most vendors, the priority is to reduce the risk of inventory building up given deteriorating demand. Vendors had significant stockpiles going into July, but sell-through gradually improved from September owing to aggressive discounting and promotions. The pricing strategy of new products is cautiously crafted, even for Apple, to avoid significant pushback from consumers who now tend to be very sensitive to any price hike,” added Liu.
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Q4 2022 to bring some respite
“As demand shows no signs of improvement moving into Q4 and H1 2023, vendors have to work on a prudent production forecast with the supply chain while working closely with the channel to stabilize market share,” said Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia. Going into the sales season, consumers who have been delaying purchases will expect steep discounts and bundling promotions as well as significant price reductions on older generation devices. Compared to the strong demand period of the previous year, a slow but steady festive sale is anticipated in Q4 2022. However, it will be too soon to see the upcoming Q4 as the real turning point of market recovery.”
While the global smartphone market is taking a backseat, Nepali consumers are unable to get most mid-range and high-end phones in the market. The government of Nepal has upheld its ban on the import of phones costing $300 and above till Mangsir 29 ruling out the arrival of most feature-full flagship smartphones“.
Plus, MDMS has come into operation that effectively blocks telecom service on unregistered phones that enter Nepal. We urge you to first check a phone’s registration status before buying them and register them if you need to. Learn all about MDMS in Nepal including the registration process.
If you have any queries regarding smartphones, let us know in the comments below.
