The latest global smartphone sales figures are dismal. In the first quarter, 11% fewer smartphones were sold compared to the previous year. According to market researcher Canalys, Apple and Samsung are increasingly dominating these figures.
Dismal figures according to Canalys, which established that globally 11% fewer smartphones were sold last quarter. This was due to an unstable market: the pandemic (including initial uncertainty about the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and Chinese lockdowns) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine contributed to lower demand for smartphones.
The chip shortage, which affected many electronics manufacturers last year, played a lesser role for smartphone manufacturers in the first quarter of 2022.
Smartphone manufacturers themselves do not disclose sales figures. Listed smartphone makers are also hiding sales in larger product groups. This means that market analysts such as Canalys have to be looked at.
Duopoly
The figures show growth at only two smartphone manufacturers: Samsung and Apple, the two largest players. The former is – and remains – the market leader, growing by 2% from last year to 24%. Apple’s market share grew 3% to 18% of global sales.
Other smartphone manufacturers lost market share and saw the gap with Samsung and Apple widen. Xiaomi took 13 percent, Oppo (including sub-brands OnePlus and Realme) dropped to ten percent and Vivo finally eight percent. This means that Chinese brands are jointly making significant sacrifices. This was quite different a few years back, when Huawei was a big player. Due to the US trade embargo, this player has disappeared from the scene and other Chinese manufacturers don’t seem to really benefit from it.
In the Netherlands too
Canalys’ figures are global. If we zoom in on the Dutch smartphone market, we end up with another party: stat counter†The duopoly is even more visible in the figures for the past quarter. Apple sells the most smartphones: 39.5%, closely followed by Samsung with 37.5%. Together, these smartphone makers therefore control almost 80% of the Dutch market.
Here, Huawei is still visible with about five percent. Also Xiaomi, the current number three has a similar percentage. A remarkably large lag behind the market leaders.
The Dutch figures are slightly different from the global figures because markets differ. For example, the Chinese and Indian markets are dominated by Chinese smartphone brands and Apple in particular is smaller than in Western markets.
The analysts do not give a reason why Apple and Samsung are increasingly dominating the market. Canalys points to the new iPhone SE and Samsung’s Galaxy A series as possible drivers. But other factors can also contribute, such as the ecosystem and support. In these areas, Chinese brands are lagging behind Apple and Samsung.
â€