Global smartphone sales fell at a record pace in the last three months of last year. People seem to be getting more cautious about major expenses, such as buying a new mobile phone. Additionally, violent protests at a major iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou have caused delays in shipments at Apple.
In all, manufacturers have in the last three months of 2022 sold just over 300 million smartphones. That’s 18 percent lower than the same period a year earlier, as determined by market analyst IDC. This is the sharpest decline ever recorded.
Hollow
As a general rule, the last months of the year with Christmas and the New Year are an important period for sales of electronic products. But during the last holiday season, smartphone sellers were forced to offer serious discounts to get rid of their existing stocks, according to Nabila Popal, in charge of studies at IDC. ‘Never before have we seen such a low quantity of deliveries during the holiday quarter,’ she explains.
Prominent electronics makers are also feeling a dip in smartphone sales. Last quarter, the South Korean firm Samsung saw its profit fall at the highest rate in ten years. Here too, we must take into account the fact that the group is a major supplier of chips and screens for smartphones.
In all, manufacturers have in the last three months of 2022 sold just over 300 million smartphones. That’s 18 percent lower than the same period a year earlier, as determined by market analyst IDC. This is the sharpest decline ever recorded. As a general rule, the last months of the year with Christmas and the New Year are an important period for sales of electronic products. But during the last holiday season, smartphone sellers were forced to offer serious discounts to get rid of their existing stocks, according to Nabila Popal, in charge of studies at IDC. “Never before have we seen such a low amount of shipments during the holiday quarter,” she explains. Prominent electronics makers are also feeling a dip in smartphone sales. Last quarter, the South Korean firm Samsung saw its profit fall at the highest rate in ten years. Here too, we must take into account the fact that the group is a major supplier of chips and screens for smartphones.