Smartphone decline

The smartphone industry has experienced a lull again in its sales. So far, the mobile industry has seen a drop of 14.6% in Q1, 2023.

This recent lull was noticed shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic struck and has been on a steady decline.

Seventh Consecutive Quarterly Decline

According to a recent report submitted by the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide smartphone shipments dipped by 14.6% year-over-year (YoY) to 268.6 million units in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the IDC, this is the seventh consecutive decline the smartphone industry has endured largely driven by lukewarm demand, inflation, and other macroeconomic uncertainties.

Pointing readers in the right direction, the IDC stated that this quarter’s decline is the worst of its forecasts.

Previously, the IDC mentioned in a Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker report that smartphone shipments were down by 12.7%.

The IDC has associated much of the slowdown with inventory and supply line issues.

Providing insight into the current bearish smartphone sales trend, research director with the IDC team Nabila Popal stated that many market players were conservative in their approach in the pursuit of temporary gains.

According to Popal, the smartphone industry is still set for a tough 3 to 6 months and there will be a positive change to double-digit output by the holiday quarter.

Breaking the data into regional outputs, the IDC stated that every smartphone sales hub suffered double-digit loss in the first quarter of 2023 ended March 31.

For instance, China saw a 12% drop even though normal economic activities had reopened after the global pandemic. Developed markets covered by the US and Western Europe were both hit with 11.5% and 9.4%, respectively.

On the other hand, emerging markets like the Middle East Asia (MEA) lost 17% to 20% in smartphone shipments.

Samsung Leading The Charge

Even though the continued decline might be concerning for a number of people, some market players are patting themselves on the back for a job well done.

According to the IDC report, Samsung shipped the most smartphones in the just concluded quarter.

The popular Apple rival shipped 60.5 million units of its own smartphone while Apple came a close second at 55.2 million.

Xiaomi came third at 30.5 million while OPPO and Vivo concluded the top five with 27.4 million and 20.5 million units, respectively.

However, Apple was the least impacted in the YoY change with a -2.3% while Samsung suffered a -18.9% drop in the same period.

Given this, Apple Inc. was the only one which grew its market share out of the top 5 smartphone companies despite a market-wide decline.

Are Smartphone Makers Running Out Of Ideas? Many Users Think So

Instead of buying smartphones, the IDC tracker showed that many consumers were prioritizing travel and entertainment over purchasing new smartphones.

While the global pandemic has left a large dent on manufacturers in every stratosphere, the current smartphone sales decline could be caused by the fact that smartphones have plateaued.

This includes their design as well as the capability of their software.

Many users are comfortable with their smartphones as the new ones do not bring any form of novelty to the user experience.

Despite this double-digit decline, market players remain largely unfazed.

Many state that this is expected given the amount of detail used in making these ones.

Given that smartphones have a multi-year lifespan before any need for replacement comes up, smartphone manufacturers are instead patting themselves on the back.

Nonetheless, they do not intend to stop launching new phones every year.

Many are looking to generate hype and interest once again amongst the masses by creating new smartphone forms.

For instance, Google is reportedly looking to launch a foldable Pixel phone in its forthcoming May 10 event.

This is expected to generate interest once again in a largely saturated marketplace.

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