shows how smartphone shipments worldwide have fallen 11% due to adverse
market conditions. Demand has remained slow in 2022 amid an unfavorable
market.
Samsung led the market share with 24% while Apple placed second with
18% share. Xiaomi placed third with 13% share due to the success of the
Redmi Note series. OPPO, which makes OnePlus, and vivo took fourth and
fifth places respectively.
Despite ongoing uncertainty, these smartphone makers found ways to
remain relevant by broadening their device portfolios for the year. For
example, Samsung revamped its A series to continue to be a popular
mid-to-low segment phone.
“While the iPhone 13 series continues to capture consumer demand, the
new iPhone SE launched in March is becoming an important mid-range
volume driver for Apple. At a similar price point to its predecessor, it
offers an upgraded chipset and improved battery performance and adds
the 5G connectivity that operator channels are demanding”Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia
Canalys reports “the global smartphone market was held back by an unsettled business environment in Q1.”
Markets saw a spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant,
though minimal hospitalizations and high vaccination rates helped
normalize consumer activity quickly. Vendors face major uncertainty due
to the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s rolling lockdowns and the threat of
inflation. All this added to traditionally slow seasonal demand.
Despite reports of the iPhone SE 3 sales not performing well,
Canalys’ data seems to differ. There’s a new survey reporting US
carriers found iPhone SE 3 demand less
than it was for the iPhone SE 2. Canalys goes on to state smartphone
makers “must equip themselves to respond quickly to emerging
opportunities and risks.”
