SA: Q1 Global smartphone shipments fell 11% year-on-year to 314 million units

Set micro network news, April 30, the latest research Strategy Analytics pointed out that the global smartphone shipments in 2022 Q1 fell 11% year-on-year to 314 million units. Samsung topped the global smartphone market with a 24 per cent market share in the quarter, its best Q1 performance in nearly five years. Apple was second with 18% of the market; Xiaomi, OPPO (including OnePlus) and Vivo remained in the top five.

"Q1 2022 marked the third consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline in smartphone shipments as factory constraints and component shortages continued to constrain smartphone supply," SA said. At the same time, adverse economic conditions, geopolitical issues and the impact of COVID-19 (lockdown in China, etc.) continue to dent consumer demand for smartphones and other non-essential products."

SA expects Samsung to ship 75 million smartphones in Q1 2022 and hold the top spot in the global smartphone market with a 24 percent market share, the company's highest first-quarter performance in terms of market share since 2017. The new flagship Galaxy S22 line, especially the pricier S22 Ultra, has seen strong demand. At the same time, Samsung continues to offer cost-effective A-series products in multiple markets.

It is reported that apple shipped 57 million iphones worldwide in Q1 2022, up 1% year on year, and ranked second with 18% global market share. Apple's iPhone 13 series and the newly launched iPhoneSE (2022) have become a sales driver in the lower market and are doing well. Apple's market share during the quarter was also the highest since 2013, as leading Chinese brands were dragged down by a downturn in their home market.

Xiaomi shipped 39 million smartphones and ranked third with a 12 percent global market share in Q1 2022, down from 14 percent last year. Xiaomi is affected by geopolitical uncertainty in Europe; Chinese brands have also had mixed results in China and India. OPPO (OnePlus) ranked fourth, accounting for 10% of the global smartphone market in Q1 2022. Vivo ranked fifth with an 8 percent share of the global smartphone market. OPPO (OnePlus) and Vivo have lost market share in all key markets except Latin America, while Glory and other smartphone rivals have seen 5G competition intensify sharply in China and other markets.

Outside the top five, the global competition for other major smartphone brands is very fierce in Q1 2022. Honor, RealMe, Lenovo-Motorola and Transsion all outperformed the overall market, but in different patterns. Honor is stable in the Chinese market and continues to climb in overseas markets. Realme continued to advance in all regions, but China's overall performance fell back. Lenovo-motorola has gained market share in North America, but its momentum in Central and Latin America has been broken by other Chinese brands. Transsion, which faces stiff competition from Samsung in Africa, posted its first annual decline in two years.

SA expects global smartphone shipments for the full year of 2022 to decline by 1% to 2% year-on-year. Geopolitics, component shortages, rising prices, currency fluctuations, and COVID-19 will continue to put pressure on the smartphone market in the first half of 2022, which will ease in the second half due to COVID-19 vaccine, central bank interest rate hikes, and reduced factory supply disruptions.