It’s no secret that the smartphone world is in a bit of a slump these days. Despite a rebound in 2021 after a pandemic-fueled nosedive, sales disappointed manufacturers across the globe again last year, albeit with higher prices helping to make up a difference in revenue. Anyone who hoped the holidays would help save 2022 for the industry is, unfortunately, out of luck, as last quarter saw the sharpest decline for sales in smartphone history.
According to a new IDC report, phone shipments in Q4 2022 dropped by 18.3 percent compared to the same period in 2021, setting a record for the largest decline between consecutive years and contributing to the annual 11.3 percent decrease in the market. Overall, the industry saw 1.21 billion units shipped in 2022 — a number that, despite sounding high on paper, is the lowest total since 2013. To put that in perspective, that’s the year the Galaxy S4 and Nexus 5 launched.
Unsurprisingly, Apple took the top spot here, holding 24.1 percent of the market and shipping 72.3 million units. That’s down 14 percent year-over-year, though, as the company managed to move 85 million during the 2021 holidays. Samsung took second place with 58.2 million units — down 15.6 percent compared to the previous year — for a 19.4 percent share. Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo made up the rest of the top five, with Google, Motorola, and other brands lumped into the “Other” category.
As observed by IDC research director Nabila Popal, this was the first time Q4 shipments have ever dipped below Q3 numbers, missing the previous quarter’s total by nearly two million units. Holiday demand and seasonal discounts weren’t enough to save the overall market from massively missing its expected totals, a sign that a 2023 recovery could be out of the question.
We also got our first look at overall totals for 2022 today, though the news isn’t much brighter. All five companies from the Q4 top five appeared in the overall rankings in the same order — no surprise there — with no company escaping from a year-over-year dip. Apple and Samsung saw drops of 4.1 and 4 percent, respectively, while Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo all saw declines between 19.8 and 22.8 percent.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist — or, for that matter, a market analyst — to understand what’s happening. While the economy as a whole has managed to withstand slipping into a recession thus far, inflation continues to hurt the wallet of an average consumer. Smartphones, specifically flagships, are more expensive than ever, but they also outlast their predecessors in some key ways. Samsung and Google already offer five years of security updates for their latest phones, and OnePlus is on track to follow suit with its 2023 lineup.
Combined with a general sense of stagnation in the market, and it’s easy to see why consumers might hold off on upgrading. As much as we liked the Google Pixel 7, for example, it’s hard to see it as a must-have for anyone who bought a Pixel 6 one year earlier. It’s a trend that seems set to continue with next week’s expected Galaxy S23 unveiling. Samsung might have some of the best Android phones ever made waiting in the wings, but in every leak we’ve seen so far, it’s very hard to imagine the average S22 or S21 user being swayed to upgrade.
We’re long past the days when smartphones were an emerging, exciting market. In 2023, it truly is best to think of them as pocket-friendly computers, capable of nearly all the same tasks as a full-size laptop but on a smaller screen. And just like how most shoppers don’t buy a new laptop every year — or even every three years, for that matter — the era of exciting annual releases for phones might be behind us for good.
