A brand new report from Canalys has claimed that the worldwide smartphone market has declined for the third consecutive time this yr.

The analyst agency discovered gross sales in Q3 2022 had been down 9% from the identical interval final yr as shoppers world wide tighten their belts to afford necessities. 

The dangerous information may additionally be set to proceed, with Canalys saying it expects this development to proceed for the subsequent six to 9 months.

Widespread affect

Canalys discovered that each one the highest smartphone makers had been impacted to various levels. Apple was the one firm to really see constructive progress within the interval, as demand for the newest iPhone fashions remained robust, with the tech big now holding an 18% market share. 

Out entrance, Samsung nonetheless stays essentially the most dominant participant within the international market with a share of 22%, due to huge promotions geared toward shifting stock. The opposite distributors rounding out the highest 5 – Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo – retained their market shares (14%, 10% and 9% respectively) however had been reluctant to develop abroad given the financial turbulence.

Canalys analyst Amber Liu mentioned that because the smartphone market could be very delicate, it reacts strongly to reductions in demand. This has pressured distributors to sell-through stock by providing heavy reductions and promotions to keep away from stockpiles build up. 

Shoppers are additionally being simply spooked by value will increase as a result of present international financial local weather, forcing even Apple to cost its merchandise extra fastidiously. This will all change with the upcoming peak buying and selling season although, with distributors seeing Black Friday and Cyber Monday as an excellent likelihood to shift some inventory.

One other analyst at Canalys, Sanyam Chaurasia, mentioned that demand seems set to stay stagnant till the primary half of 2023, which is able to imply distributors should plan forward fastidiously with their provide chain to keep away from oversupply and assess their pricing to keep up their market shares. 

She additionally mentioned that as shoppers are lowering their outgoing earnings on non-essentials, they’ll count on reductions on older generations of gadgets and bundle offers. She added that “in comparison with the robust demand interval of the earlier yr, a gradual however regular festive sale is anticipated in This fall 2022”.

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