The global smartphone market struggled with its third consecutive decline this year amid turbulent global economic conditions.
(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)
Smartphone market dropped in the September-ending quarter falling 9% from the same time in the previous year.
Credit: Canalys
“The gloomy economic outlook has led consumers to delay purchasing electronic hardware and prioritise other essential spending,” Canalys said in a blog on Tuesday.
Smartphone vendors have been challenged by increasing inventories due to low consumer demand.
They have tried to reduce the bulging inventories through aggressive discounting and promotions.
“The smartphone market is highly reactive to consumer demand and vendors are adjusting quickly to the harsh business conditions,” Canalys Analyst Amber Liu, said in the blog.
“For most vendors, the priority is to reduce the risk of inventory building up given deteriorating demand, she added.
Samsung retained its leading position with a 22% market share driven by heavy promotions to reduce channel inventory.
Apple was the only vendor in the top five to see positive growth, improving its market position further with an 18% share due to relatively resilient demand for iPhones.
The research firm expects the low demand to dampen the smartphone market for the next six to nine months.
Demand shows no signs of improvement moving into the last quarter of this year and first half of next year. Compared to the strong demand period of the previous year, a slow but steady festive sale is anticipated in Q4 2022, said Sanyam Chaurasia, Canalys Analyst.
Consumers can expect steep discounts and bundling promotions as well as significant price reductions on older generation devices, going into the sales season, he added.
