Smartphone sales in 2022 lowest in ten years

Smartphone sales in 2022 have not benefited from the post-Covid upturn in the economy, falling 17% in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter in 2021.

2022 even worse than 2021

2021 was not the best year for the smartphone, but 2022 turns out to be even worse. Compared to 2021, sales in 2022 were no less than 11% lower, viewed over the entire year. In total, “only” 1.2 billion smartphones were sold in 2022. Canalys, a firm that analyzes the smartphone market, calls 2022 “an extremely challenging year for all sellers”.

Now that almost everyone in the world has a mobile phone, even in the poorest countries, the years of explosive growth of the smartphone market are over. In any case, this had a moderating effect on growth in the years before 2022. On top of that, of course, the global covid pandemic came over. In short, the stars were already not favorable to high sales and it seems that the high inflation of recent months has been the final blow.

Apple and Samsung again as usual in the first two places

Apple returned to its traditional number one position in the fourth quarter, with a quarter of the total market. With this, the American company did better than Samsung’s Koreans. Their arch rival had to settle for second place. This may have had to do with the release of the iPhone 14 just before. Over the whole of 2023, Apple had to leave first place in terms of sales to market leader Samsung.

The market analysts know this in terms of economic conditions as a whole, but it may also have a lot to do with the somewhat disappointing offerings from Apple, Samsung and some other major players in the field of innovative smartphones. Many Apple enthusiasts probably kept the money in their pockets, because only to spend on the rumored much better iPhone 15. Smartphone sellers are pinning their hopes on that, with of course the resurgent demand from China.