Samsung and other smartphone brands have been going through tough times over the past year as smartphone demand waned due to various factors, including the global economic downturn and increasing inflation. So, almost all smartphone brands saw declined shipments and lower sales compared to 2021. However, it looks like things are about to get better for smartphone brands, including Samsung, which topped the smartphone market in Q3 2023.
Smartphone market is recovering, which is a good sign for number one ranked Samsung
According to a new market analysis report from Canalys, Samsung was the biggest smartphone brand globally, with a 20% market share. That's 2 percentage points lower than in 2022, but the company has been focusing on profitability by selling more high-end and flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Z Fold 5. The company received great response for the recently launched Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the South Korean firm announced that this year, the sales of its foldable smartphones will surpass the sales of the Galaxy Note series (from 2020). Close to 300 million smartphones were shipped in Q3 2023, out of which Samsung shipped 60 million units.
A recovering market is a good sign for Samsung as it can expect improved smartphone sales as well as more sales of components such as its ISOCELL camera sensors, DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, OLED panels, and batteries that are used by several other smartphone brands globally.
Apple ranked second with a market share of 17%, which is a drop of 1 percentage point compared to Q3 2022. The company is expected to do well in the current quarter, thanks to the launch of the iPhone 15 series, which brings the most-requested feature: USB Type-C port. Xiaomi captures a 14% share of the market globally and stayed flat compared to last year in terms of market share. However, another report that was published yesterday revealed that Xiaomi also saw lower shipments compared to last year.
OPPO ranked fourth with a 9% market share, one percentage point lower than last year. Remember that OPPO's market share includes shipments from its sub-brand OnePlus. Transsion ranked fifth in the global smartphone market in the last quarter as it captured a 9% share of the market. It overtook Vivo, which is surprising. If you don't know already, Transsion operates three smartphone brands: Infinix, Itel, and Tecno. Most of its phones are sold in Asian and African markets. The report claims that increasing component costs might bring some trouble to smartphone makers as they could struggle with supply chain issues and might have to increase smartphone prices in the coming year.
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Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Q3 2023 |
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|
Q3 2023 |
Q3 2022 |
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|
Samsung |
20% |
22% |
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|
Apple |
17% |
18% |
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|
Xiaomi |
14% |
14% |
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|
OPPO |
9% |
10% |
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|
TRANSSION |
9% |
6% |
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|
Others |
32% |
31% |
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Canalys analyst Toby Zhu said, “Vendors should remain cautious about the rebound. The global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties brought fragility into the nascent recovery and channel operations. Canalys forecasts suggest decelerating medium-to-long-term smartphone market growth. Meticulous monitoring of stock turnover and end demand is critical to avoid turbulence from high inventory.”
