Global smartphone shipments plummet record 18.3% in Q4

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Global smartphone shipments annually declined 18.3% to 300.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

This marked the largest-ever decline on record for a single quarter, the US-based tech industry market intelligence firm said Wednesday.

For 2022, worldwide smartphone shipments decreased 11.3% to 1.21 billion units -- the lowest annual shipment total since 2013.

The company said low consumer demand, inflation and economic uncertainties led to the steep decline, adding that the figures put the 2.8% recovery expected for this year "in serious jeopardy."

"We have never seen shipments in the holiday quarter come in lower than the previous quarter. However, weakened demand and high inventory caused vendors to cut back drastically on shipments," said Nabila Popal, IDC's Worldwide Tracker team research director. "Heavy sales and promotions during the quarter helped deplete existing inventory rather than drive shipment growth"

"Vendors are increasingly cautious in their shipments and planning while realigning their focus on profitability. What this holiday quarter tells us is that rising inflation and growing macro concerns continue to stunt consumer spending even more than expected and push out any possible recovery to the very end of 2023," she added.

Popal said even US-based tech major Apple, which was seemingly immune so far, suffered a setback in its supply chain due to lockdowns at its key factories in China.

Apple shipped 72.3 million smartphones in October-December period of last year, which was down 14.9% from 85 million units the same period of the previous year. Its market share of 24.1% stood above other manufacturers for the fourth quarter.

South Korea's Samsung came on top of the annual list with a total of 260.9 million shipments in 2022 -- 4.1% less than 272.1 million it saw in 2021.

Anthony Scarsella, research director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, said consumers may find generous trade-in offers and promotions this year as the market will think of new methods to drive upgrades and sell more devices, especially high-end models.