Global smartphone market dipped 9% in Q3 as consumers tighten budgets

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: The global smartphone market shrank for the third consecutive quarter during the three-month period ending September 30, resulting in the worst third quarter since 2014. In its preliminary smartphone market report for Q3, Canalys said the overall market dipped nine percent year-on-year thanks in part to an uncertain economic environment in which consumers are delaying purchases of electronics and prioritizing spending on other essentials.

A look at the five leading vendors reveals Samsung held its position atop the heap with a 22 percent market share which Canalys credited to heavy promotions to reduce channel inventory. Apple finished second with an 18 percent slice of the pie followed by Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo with 14 percent, 10 percent and nine percent shares, respectively.

Canalys analyst Amber Liu noted the market is highly reactive to consumer demand and vendors are quickly adjusting to account for the harsh business environment. For most vendors, the goal is to reduce inventory buildup through aggressive promotions and discounts.

Consumers are sensitive to price hikes, so vendors have to craft their pricing strategies carefully to avoid significant pushback.

Things aren't likely to change anytime soon, either. Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said demand is showing no signs of improving and as we head into the holiday buying season, consumers that have been delaying purchases are going to expect significant price cuts on new products and even deeper discounts on older generation devices.

Even if sales during the holidays are robust, it'll be too soon to know if they represent a true turning point of market recovery.

Where does your smartphone strategy stand heading into the end of the year? Are you looking to take advantage of pending holiday discounts to score a deal on a new handset or are you content to keep using your existing phone into 2023? My six-year-old phone is still alive and kicking, but the maximum battery capacity is down to just 77 percent and the low storage capacity is starting to become a serious concern.

Image credit: Daniel Romero

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96379-global-smartphone-market-dipped-9-q3-consumers-tighten.html

 

[DSirius]

Would be interesting to see an analysys about the causes of this downfall. Like percentage of inflation, post covid low demand due to market saturation, other causes etc.

 

[umbala]

Yeah, this was bound to happen at some point. Apple, Samsung, etc. expect people to keep buying thousand dollar phones with incremental improvements every year. Did t hey really think it would go on forever?

 

[hahahanoobs]

What I can do on my $400 phone is more important than how fast I can do it with a $1000 phone.
I do find phones have peaked in a way. At least on the hardware side. I'd like to see more done with software going forward. I'd consider a Pixel 7 for the software alone if I felt I needed a new phone today.

 

[Ohnooze]

Phones are starting to kind of top out and we are seeing less and less new exciting features.
It gets to a point where it's just pointless to upgrade.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I don't need to waste my money on crap.

S8 still going strong for me. I can burn through the battery charge pretty fast if I'm screwing around and just playing games on it, but otherwise a full charge still gets me through the day without having the need to worry about the battery dying. December this year will be my 5 years on this phone.

I know people that get a new phone every 18-24 months, just to have the latest and greatest!
I know others that break the screens on their phone, multiple times even...someone I know shattered his screen 2 days after paying nearly $300 to get it replaced. What is wrong with people? Can't they keep their stuff in good condition?
I know people that constantly drop their phones in some kind of liquid at least once a year.....porta-potty, toilet, pool, milk (yep, dropped it in their cereal bowl).

If people weren't stupid and could take care of their stuff, most people wouldn't need to upgrade a phone for 4-6 years. New phones really don't have anything new over the past 1-3 generations of phones. A slightly faster CPU...."OMG!" or 3 cameras instead of just 2 or 1....."OMG, OMG, OMG!"

I find it pathetic that these tech companies thought this idea of gouging people on prices and expecting them to keep buying in droves was going to continue.

People have just been able to catch up getting stuff that's been hard to get. Why would they simply turn around and spend more money on something pretty insignificant in terms of performance? The people that run these companies are stupid.

 

[Shaitan]

This is how people should treat everything. Stop getting stuff:
New electric vehicle which can be used for 10 years maximum? Hell no. IC of yesteryear could last 1 million km!
New 670 motherboard for 7000 series is 500 Euro? Yeah, well eff that, my 570 does well enough, thank you. 4090? Nope, 3090Ti is decent for half the price. My 3080 is here for the next years.
These companies think that we are obliged to use whatever they throw at us for whatever insane price they feel like today. Nope:
Old phone does it's job? Keep it until it breaks.
New call of duty is 100 USD plus phone check requested? Cool! I'll play counter strike Go or some indie stuff. Eff that.
Not paying for any political woke stuff, no Netflix or Amazon, no MCU or any other new superhero crap (Deadpool is on the must watch though), tons more reading and Korean movies or series, I'm fine with old movies and games and not eager to consume anything new for a time.
Hideo Kojima games without skins, micro transactions and monthly payment? Ok, pre-order!
Anything from Blizzard? Not even considering trying Diablo IV or mobile crap, hell freezes over before I pay for wow and I'll die before touching a Playstation 5 censorship heaven.
People, wake up. Reading costs a fraction of paying for all the crap you don't own!

 

[MeatPopsicle]

They all do the same thing. Either really well or really badly. You get what you pay for.

 

[AlexIL]

I welcomed iPhone mini series. It was decent phones for relatively sane price. Watching iPhone 14 presentation I didn't get why exactly I expected to spend a thousand bucks on it. For what. Cool camera? They all do the basic job of taking photos. Something really pro requires dslr with serious optics. Extra powerful cpu? I got Samsung and that's my last Samsung as they do slow down their phones. I notice it gets slower and slower with each update of theirs. Samsung shot themselves in the leg with that strategy as I now blacklisted that company products altogether. Nothing of theirs. Huawei P30 Pro runs faster than Samsung flagships of today and frankly got better camera and screen while cost a fraction of Samsung or Apple price. So why would I fork out a thousand dollars for an iPhone 14? What's in there so revolutionary and advanced that I really will be usingand which will make life easier and more comfy? A punch hole gimmick? A status of brand new latest model owner? Thanks. No thanks.

As a side note I am sick and tired of stupid bricks costing fortunes.

 

[error1984]

I don't need to waste my money on crap.

S8 still going strong for me. I can burn through the battery charge pretty fast if I'm screwing around and just playing games on it, but otherwise a full charge still gets me through the day without having the need to worry about the battery dying. December this year will be my 5 years on this phone.

I know people that get a new phone every 18-24 months, just to have the latest and greatest!
I know others that break the screens on their phone, multiple times even...someone I know shattered his screen 2 days after paying nearly $300 to get it replaced. What is wrong with people? Can't they keep their stuff in good condition?
I know people that constantly drop their phones in some kind of liquid at least once a year.....porta-potty, toilet, pool, milk (yep, dropped it in their cereal bowl).

If people weren't stupid and could take care of their stuff, most people wouldn't need to upgrade a phone for 4-6 years. New phones really don't have anything new over the past 1-3 generations of phones. A slightly faster CPU...."OMG!" or 3 cameras instead of just 2 or 1....."OMG, OMG, OMG!"

I find it pathetic that these tech companies thought this idea of gouging people on prices and expecting them to keep buying in droves was going to continue.

People have just been able to catch up getting stuff that's been hard to get. Why would they simply turn around and spend more money on something pretty insignificant in terms of performance? The people that run these companies are stupid.

I'm on old S6 and I agree with you but let me tell you....the people who run the companies are not dumb - they know exactly what they are doing....they release stuff for stupid

 

[Uncle Al]

My old Consumer Cellular $250 special is still chugging away, doing everything needed. WIth a great resolution camera I just don't have a desire or need to upgrade yearly. I've had it for 3+ years and will keep using it until it can't be upgraded to the next level software or won't do a security upgrade. With all the savings I got a new Zero-Turn mower this year and it's un-hackable! LOL