Global Smartphone Market Shrinks 7% in Q1... Samsung Performs Well with S22

Global Smartphone Shipments Reach 328 Million Units
Down 7% Year-on-Year, 12% Quarter-on-Quarter
Mixed Results Amid Semiconductor Chip Supply Challenges

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] In the first quarter of this year, global smartphone shipments declined by 7% year-on-year due to supply constraints and geopolitical uncertainties. Samsung Electronics performed well with a total of 74 million units, driven by strong sales of the new flagship Galaxy S22 series launched in February.

Global market research firm Counterpoint Research announced on the 29th that worldwide smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2022 totaled 328 million units, down 7% year-on-year and 12% quarter-on-quarter.

Samsung Electronics shipped 74 million units. Although this was a 3% decrease compared to the same period last year, it recorded growth compared to the previous quarter. Its market share was 23%, surpassing Apple to take first place. Despite the flagship model released at the end of February being priced higher than its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 series, strong consumer response drove overall performance.

Apple recorded shipments of 59 million units, similar to previous years. This was due to steady demand for the iPhone 13 series released last year and the effect of launching the first 5G model of the budget iPhone SE 3rd generation. However, compared to the fourth quarter when new iPhone models are released, shipments fell sharply by 28% quarter-on-quarter due to a base effect.

Unlike the top two companies, Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo recorded poor performance, with quarterly shipments down nearly 20% year-on-year. The combined market share of Xiaomi (12%), Oppo (9%), and Vivo (9%) also dropped by 5 percentage points to 30% compared to a year ago.

Looking at shipment volumes, Xiaomi shipped 39 million units, down 20% year-on-year; Oppo shipped 31 million units, down 19%; and Vivo shipped 29 million units, down 19%. Xiaomi faced weak sales of new devices such as the Redmi 9A and Mi 10S, as well as supply chain disruptions caused by semiconductor chip shortages. The shopping boom during the Chinese New Year holiday at the beginning of the year was also limited. Oppo and Vivo experienced similar supply chain setbacks.

Yan Strijk, a researcher at Counterpoint, said, "Although Samsung and Apple withdrew from Russia in March during the first quarter, the combined shipments of the two companies within Russia accounted for less than 2% of the total market, so there was almost no impact on the smartphone market." He added, "While the shortage of components is expected to ease soon, the Russia-Ukraine war presents new challenges to the global smartphone market."

He continued, "If the impact of the war leads to reduced availability of raw materials, price increases, additional inflationary pressures, and other suppliers withdrawing from Russia, it could cause a greater ripple effect."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.