The global mobile phone market and the Chinese mobile phone market continued to be weak in the third quarter, and major manufacturers are focusing on destocking.
On October 28, the latest report of IDC, a third-party data research company, showed that the global smartphone shipments in the third quarter were 302 million units, down 9.7% year-on-year; China’s smartphone market shipments were about 71.13 million units, down 11.9% year-on-year. %, although this is the first time that the decline in the Chinese market has narrowed this year, the market demand still continues the downturn in the first half of the year.
IDC predicts that the global smartphone decline will narrow to 5.1% in the fourth quarter, while the Chinese market is still expected to decline 8.9% in the fourth quarter.
IDC said that with the increase in inventory this quarter, manufacturers have further reduced shipments and orders to reduce inventory. The macroeconomic situation was poor, and while Apple was the only vendor to post positive growth during the quarter, it still faced challenges and its growth was hampered in many markets, including China.
“We now expect a weaker recovery in 2023,” said Guo Tianxiang, senior analyst at IDC China.
Apple is the only top manufacturer to maintain growth
According to IDC data, the global market appears to be unchanged from the previous quarter in terms of vendor rankings. Samsung topped the list with a 21.2 percent share, Apple was second with a 17.2 percent share, and Xiaomi was third with a 13.4 percent share. Vivo and OPPO tied for fourth place with an 8.6% share. All top manufacturers, except Apple, saw year-over-year declines. Samsung and Xiaomi saw single-digit declines, while vivo and OPPO continued to see double-digit declines.
In the Chinese market, Apple was also the only major manufacturer to maintain growth in the third quarter, with shipments of 10.8 million units, an increase of 2.5%, ranking fourth. Market share also expanded to 15.1%.
In the third quarter, vivo returned to the first place in the domestic market in terms of shipments, with a market share of 20.0%. The market share of the sub-brand iQOO continued to increase, reaching 4.6% of the domestic market in the third quarter.
Honor ranks second with a market share of 17.9%. According to IDC, the Honor 70 series has maintained its rapid growth since its launch.
OPPO (excluding OnePlus) has a market share of 16.3%, ranking third, and has increased investment in products to create a boutique line. Xiaomi shipped about 9 million units in the third quarter, accounting for 12.7% of the market, ranking fifth.
IDC said that thanks to the early release of Apple’s iPhone 14 series this year and the return of Huawei’s new Mate 50 series, the domestic smartphone market achieved a quarter-on-quarter growth of 6.0% in the third quarter. But it can also be seen that, except for Apple, the sales of other major brands have fallen sharply compared with the same period last year.
The high-end mobile phone market is less affected
Compared with the overall mobile phone market, the performance of high-end mobile phones was more stable and less impacted, and growth has resumed in the third quarter.
IDC’s report shows that although the overall smartphone market in China continues to be in a downturn, the high-end market above US$600 is less affected, with an overall share of 22.4%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points year-on-year and a month-on-month increase of 2.3 percentage points.
Among them, Apple’s iPhone accounted for 67.5% of the mobile phone market over $600 in the third quarter, down two percentage points from the second quarter.
Guo Tianxiang said that Apple’s advantages in the high-end market are still very obvious, but he also sees that the competition of Android products in the high-end market is becoming more and more fierce. products to enhance competitiveness.”
In the third quarter, the record shipment of folding screen products exceeded one million units
The Android system regards folding screen mobile phones as an important starting point for impacting the high-end market. According to IDC, thanks to multiple brands and the centralized launch of a number of new products, folding screen products in the high-end market have maintained a trend of rapid growth. In the third quarter of 2022, China’s single-quarter shipments of folding screen products exceeded 1 million, a year-on-year increase of about 246%, the largest single-quarter shipment in history.
IDC’s report shows that Huawei still occupies the first position in the domestic folding screen market, with a market share of 44.9%; Samsung’s Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 two new products sold significantly better than the previous generation products, ranking second, occupying the second place. 22.2% market share; and the newly released X Fold+ series also helped vivo rise to third place in the folding screen market, with a market share of 11.9%. Xiaomi’s new MIX Fold 2 also gained a better market reputation than the previous generation due to its thin and light appearance, and its market share increased to 9.3%, ranking fourth. Honor’s Magic V series is nearing the end of its life cycle, ranking fifth.
Guo Tianxiang predicts that the annual shipment of folding screens in the domestic market in 2022 should reach about 2.8 million units. “In the future, manufacturers will focus on folding screens to continue to increase investment, and the market for folding screen products will continue to maintain long-term growth.”