According to IDC, worldwide smartphone shipments suffered their worst quarterly decline on record during the holidays, and Apple was not immune to cooling consumer demand amid the global economic downturn.
The research firm estimates that Apple shipped 72.3 million iPhones in the December quarter, down from 85 million units year-over-year, which would have represented a 14.9 percent decline from the same quarter a year ago. Is.
Other major smartphone brands also faced similar double-digit setbacks. Samsung’s shipments fell 15.6% year-on-year, and Chinese mobile makers OPPO and Vivo suffered roughly equal declines, with Xiaomi the worst performer during the quarter with a 26.3% drop in shipments. What did
Overall, global smartphone shipments fell 18.3 percent from a year earlier to just over 300 million units in the December quarter. The decline marks the biggest drop ever in a single quarter and contributed to a steep decline of 11.3% for the year.
“We did not see a drop in shipments in the holiday quarter,” Nabila Popal, research director at IDC, said in a press release. “However, due to weak demand and high inventory, vendors have had to drastically reduce shipments.”
Apart from inflation and economic uncertainty, the lockdown in China was another factor that hurt the industry, including Apple’s iPhone shipments, he said. “Heavy sales and promotions during the quarter helped eliminate existing inventory rather than increase shipments.”
In late November, riots broke out at the world’s largest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, where Foxconn workers were unhappy about the Covid restrictions and unpaid bonuses. iPhone production at the factory in Zhengzhou is said to have been significantly affected by the protests, which led to long shipping delays during the holiday.
According to IDC, 2022 ends with global smartphone shipments of 1.21 billion units, the lowest annual figure since 2013 due to significantly lower consumer demand, inflation, and economic uncertainty. Represents shipment.
Despite the difficult holiday period, Apple’s market share held steady, and the company maintained its position as the top smartphone maker with a 24.1% market share in the December quarter, up from a year ago. 1% is more. According to IDC estimates, for the year, Apple will reach 18.8% market share, compared to 17.3% last year, second only to Samsung, which will reach 20% in 2021. achieved 21.6% market share.