Smartphone Shipments in China Fall by 11% This Quarter
According to research firm Canalys, smartphone shipments in China decreased 11% year over year in the third quarter of 2022 as a result of weakening consumer demand.
The report estimated that a total of 70 million smartphones were shipped by brands to retailers during the period, down from 78.9 million during the same period last year. The only outlier in the market is Apple, which saw a 36% jump to 11.3 million — analysts say this surge is mostly due to the strong demand for the iPhone 14 Pro, while demand for the standard iPhone 14 model has been weak.
The industry has been seeing trends of decline in recent years because of issues such as the worldwide chip shortage, the economic effects of China's zero-COVID policy and consumers' prolonged upgrade cycles. Canalys analyst Toby Zhu says that "Vendors have been suffering from rapidly declining demand and high inventory over past quarters which has severely damaged confidence in the overall supply chain."
The top-performing brand in the quarter was vivo, controlled by the Shenzhen-based conglomerate BBK, which shipped 14.1 million units and captured a 20% market share. Shipments fell by 23%, 27% and 16% for the top three brands — vivo, OPPO and Honor — respectively. Apple, on the other hand, came in fourth with a 16% market share.
In Malaysia during Q2, Xiaomi took the crown as the top smartphone brand with almost a third of all devices sold. The ranking is followed by Samsung, vivo, OPPO and realme, all of which saw a decline in sales. Overall, smartphone shipments in South East Asia fell by 7% last quarter.
Smartphone shipments in China dropped by 11% compared to the same period last year.
Brands shipped a total of 70 million devices with vivo taking the top spot, though it still saw a significant decline.
Apple performed exceptionally well with a 36% jump in shipments due to demand for the iPhone 14 Pro.