Due to financial challenges and weak consumer demand, the previous holiday shopping season did not produce the desired results for the output of worldwide smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to market research firm IDC.
The Apple app store logo is reflected from an iPhone onto the back of an iMac in Los Angeles on August 26, 2021, as shown in this illustrative shot. – In a major shift announced in a deal with small developers, Apple has decided to relax its strict payment policies on the App Store. This decision comes as the US technology giant confronts increasing scrutiny and legal issues over its strictly controlled online marketplace. Small developers will now be able to let their users know there are other payment choices besides the official App Store thanks to the move.
Biggest One-Quarter Dip
Electronics businesses supplied 300.3 million cellphones in the three months ending in December, down 18.3% from the same time last year, according to a report released on Wednesday, Jan. 25. According to CNBC, this is the largest quarter-over-quarter decline ever seen.
According to IDC, 1.21 billion smartphones were shipped in 2022, the fewest annual shipments since 2013. Significantly decreased consumer demand, inflation, and unpredictability in the economy were the causes of this.
According to Nabila Popal, research director at IDC, shipments during the holiday season have never been noticeably lower than they were during the preceding quarter. However, as a result of low demand and high inventory, suppliers drastically cut back on their shipments.
IDC claims that the difficult end of 2022 puts the 2.8% recovery anticipated for 2023 in jeopardy and poses a major negative risk to the forecast.
Apple Remains on Top
Apple continued to be the top smartphone producer in the world. According to the IDC data, Apple shipped 72.3 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, a 14.9% drop from the corresponding time in 2016.
Apple had a 24.1% market share. Even though the tech giant debuted the iPhone 14 series before the holiday quarter, sales were still down.
The strict lockdowns and worker demonstrations at the iPhone production facility in Zhengzhou, China, may be to blame for the reduction. The third quarter saw supply chain issues for Apple as well.
Samsung, the second-largest smartphone producer, had a 15.6% decrease in shipments year over year to 58.2 million units. Samsung did not release a new flagship phone for the fourth quarter, but the company is expected to do so on February 1 during an event.
Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company, shipped 33.2 million units in the last quarter of 2022, down 26.3% from the same period in the previous year. Along with Chinese smartphone manufacturers Oppo and Vivo, the other top five smartphone manufacturers experienced significant drops.
2023 will be a year of caution, according to Anthony Scarsella, research director at IDC, as suppliers review their device portfolios and distributors think twice about taking on additional inventory.
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