Underdog company grew tremendously in Q2 while Apple and Samsung's sales slumped
The smartphone industry is still in a sorry shape and nearly all top companies are witnessing declining sales, including Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi. Only two manufacturers saw their sales go up in the second quarter of 2023, according to analyst firm Omdia.
A total of 265.9 million units were sold in Q2 2023, a decline of 9.5 percent when compared to the previous year and a decrease of 1.2 percent when compared to the previous quarter.
This was the eighth straight quarter of year-on-year dip and the lingering effects of the covid era, supply side snarls, and inflation's effects on consumer demand are said to be behind the lackluster results.
Global smartphone sales Q2 2023
With shipments of 53.3 million units, Samsung retained its number one position but the figure still represents a fall of 11.5 percent from the previous quarter when the Galaxy S23 series was announced and a dip of 14.3 percent when compared to 2022. The weak demand for low-end and midrange phones due to the current recession and the poor sales of the Galaxy A series are the reason why sales declined. The company had a market share of 20 percent in the second quarter.
Apple sold 43.2 million iPhones in Q2, which was a 24.6 percent quarter-on-quarter fall and an 11.7 percent year-on-year decline. Its market share stood at 16 percent. Although the company's high-end iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max did well, demand is tepid for the standard models, which typically help to drive sales in the second quarter.
Xiaomi occupied the third spot with sales of 33.2 million units, a decline of 15.7 percent from last year. The company is facing tough competition from Chinese companies Oppo and Vivo and it also doesn't help that its biggest market, India, is contracting. One bright spot is that, unlike other Chinese manufacturers, the company is doing well in Western Europe.
Oppo Group, which also includes OnePlus, saw yearly shipments fall by 10.5 percent to 25 million units.
Chinese company Transsion Holding which owns the Itel, Tecno, and Infinix brands and sells phones in the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, was the best performer during Q2 2023.
It sold 24.5 million units, making it the fifth-largest company in terms of sales. Its sales increased a whopping 88.5 percent from the previous quarter and 38.4 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Transsion beat vivo, which dropped to the sixth position.
The only other company which saw both YoY and QoQ growth was Huawei. With total shipments of 7.4 million, it was the tenth largest company in Q2 2023 by sales. It's commendable that Huawei did well despite the grueling market conditions and intense competition but without a 5G phone in its portfolio, it might not be able to sustain the growth.
Omdia expects the current quarter to be no better than the second quarter but thinks that the market might start recovering in the fourth quarter.
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