Strategy Analytics: Apple Hits Best Q3 Smartphone Market Share in 12 Years

Global smartphone shipments fell 9% YoY to 297 million units in the third quarter of 2022, according to Strategy Analytics. Samsung topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 22% share. Apple ranked second place with a 16% share, the highest third-quarter performance over the past twelve years. Xiaomi, OPPO (including OnePlus), and vivo stayed in the top five list.

“Global smartphone shipments fell 9% YoY to 297 million units in Q3 2022. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of an annual decline in smartphone volumes. Inventory adjustments and geopolitical issues adversely impacted the smartphone market in the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, unfavorable economic conditions continued to weaken consumers’ demand for smartphones and other non-essential products,“ said Linda Sui, Senior Director at Strategy Analytics.

“We estimate Samsung shipped 64 million smartphones and topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 22% share in Q3 2022. It slightly outperformed the total market and declined 7% YoY by shipment volumes. Demand tilted towards low-cost A and M series, while the newly launched Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 helped the company strengthen its leadership in the foldable segment. Apple shipped 49 million iPhones worldwide, up 6% YoY, for 16% global market share in Q3 2022. This is the highest third-quarter market share for Apple over the past twelve years, at the expense of leading Chinese brands which are hampered by sluggish performance in both the home and overseas markets. Apple had a good quarter, led by the newly launched iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, while the demand for iPhone 14 remained mixed,“ added Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics.

“Xiaomi shipped 40.5 million smartphones and took third place with nearly 14% global market share in Q3 2022, slightly up from one year ago. Xiaomi outperformed other major Chinese brands and registered an 8% annual decline rate, thanks to its well-diversified regional footprint. However, Xiaomi continued suffering from geopolitical uncertainties in Europe. China and the Indian market also delivered a mixed bag for the Chinese brand. OPPO (OnePlus) held the fourth spot and captured 10% global smartphone market share during Q3 2022. Vivo stayed fifth with a 9% global smartphone market share in Q3 2022. OPPO (OnePlus) and Vivo both posted a double-digit annual decline rate and lost ground in most markets, as 4G and 5G competition intensified sharply in China and other markets,“ remarked Yiwen Wu, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics.

“Global competition among other major smartphone brands, beyond the top-five, was fierce during Q3 2022. Transsion, Honor, Realme, Lenovo-Motorola, and Huawei ranked in the top ten list but delivered mixed results this quarter. Transsion maintained the sixth position and saw healthy growth in Central Eastern Europe and the Central Latin America region, but smartphone shipments posted a double-digit annual decline rate this quarter blaming the soft performance in the Asia Pacific and Africa Middle East region. Honor’s impressive resilient journey also hit a pause and delivered an annual decline due to the pullback in China in 3Q22. Realme registered a double-digit annual decline and lost ground in all regions except Central Eastern Europe where it benefited from the industry reshuffle. Lenovo-Motorola stayed in the top ten list but also delivered an annual decline while it witnessed solid growth in the Asia Pacific region mainly in India. Huawei, in contrast, posted an annual growth in smartphone shipment this quarter, mainly driven by the healthy demand for 4G enable smartphones in China, such as Nova 10 series, P50, and Mate 50 models. Among the top ten brands, there are eight Chinese brands. However, all these Chinese brands combined posted a 13% annual decline, underperforming the total market and the top two players,“ added Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.

“We forecast global smartphone shipments to decline 9% to 10% YoY in full-year 2022. Geopolitical issues, economic downturn, energy shortage, price hikes, exchange rate volatility, and Covid disruption will continue to weaken consumer demand during the last quarter of 2022. All these headwinds would continue through the first half of next year before the situation eases in the second half of 2023. Samsung and Apple would continue to outperform and remain top two places. Chinese brands need to stabilize their performance in China market and explore new growth engines to terminate the falling track,“ concluded Linda Sui.