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US Smartphone Shipments Recover 8% YoY in Q4 2023 as Apple Market Share Reaches Highest Since Q4 2020

Apple’s sell-in share grew to 64% in Q4 2023, the highest since Q4 2020.
Android sell-in declined in Q4 as lower-end OEMs experienced demand weakness.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all reported weaker upgrade rates and equipment sales.
The US smartphone market will likely see low single-digit growth in 2024 as the economy rebounds.

San Diego, Boston, Fort Collins, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, Seoul – Feb 1, 2024

US smartphone shipments grew 8% YoY in Q4 2023, according to Counterpoint Research’s preliminary Market Monitor data. This was primarily due to Apple’s sell-in rebounding strongly from the previous year’s COVID-19-induced factory shutdowns that caused production disruptions. Android sell-in declined over the same period, as the sub-$300 segment saw declining demand.

“Q4 is usually very robust for Apple given the strong demand for iPhones during the holiday sales,” said Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint’s Research Director for North America. “Throughout 2023, Apple made inroads in prepaid with its N-2 or N-3 devices, selling the iPhone 12 or iPhone 11 at very reduced prices, which also helped it grow its market share in this segment.”

Source: Counterpoint Market Monitor
Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

On Android shipments, Senior Analyst Maurice Klaehne said, “While Q4 saw a slowdown in premium sales, it was the sub-$300 segment that saw the largest declines. Prepaid-to-postpaid migration continues to be robust and cable players like Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile and Charter Communications’ Spectrum Mobile are getting strong net-adds. Prepaid upgrade eligibilities have gone from 90 days to as high as 365 days. All these factors contribute to lower demand for prepaid smartphones.”

Commenting on carrier earnings and outlook, Associate Director Hanish Bhatia said, “Carriers continued to report weak upgrade rates, citing longer holding periods. However, postpaid gross adds for the Big Three were up 5% YoY, which helped premium device sales somewhat. Carrier revenues were largely driven by increasing service revenues due to consumers moving to higher-tier plans and increasing prices of legacy plans. The trend of bundling multiple products and services to help sales is rising and we will see more of it in 2024.”

Bhatia continued, “The outlook for 2024 will largely depend on the US economy. It is an election year, which generally means improvements in various economic parameters. Therefore, demand is expected to pick up across all price segments, leading to modest growth throughout the year. MVNOs like Google Fi, which have increased their presence in national retail channels, will continue to bring competition to prepaid. With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) funding likely ending or being reduced soon, this will be another driver for the low-end market. Another growth driver for premium smartphones will likely be generative AI features. The Samsung Galaxy S24 features many examples, such as near-real-time translation and leveraging GenAI to edit photos.”

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

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India Smartphone Market Remains Flat in 2023; Apple Shipments Cross 10 Million for First Time

With an 18% share, Samsung took the top spot in 2023, for the first time since 2017.
vivo took the second spot in 2023 with a 17% share and led the affordable premium segment (INR 30,000-INR 45,000, ~ $360-$540) with a 33% share.
Xiaomi slipped to the third spot in 2023 but led in Q4 2023 with an 18.3% share.
Apple shipments crossed the 10-million mark, helping it capture the top position in revenue for the first time ever in a calendar year.
5G smartphone shipment share crossed 52% in 2023, growing 66% YoY.

New Delhi, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, San Diego, Seoul – January 31, 2024

India’s smartphone shipments remained flat in 2023 at 152 million units, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Monthly India Smartphone Tracker. The first half of the year was challenging due to ongoing macroeconomic turbulence leading to low demand and an inventory build-up. The market started recovering in the second half of the year supported by 5G upgrades and better-than-expected festive sales.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Research Analyst Shilpi Jain said, “Driven by the premium segment’s growth and 5G upgrades, India’s smartphone market grew 25% YoY in Q4 2023 after declining for a year. The elongated festive season further aided this growth, as the availability of steep discounts, easy financing schemes and lucrative promotions boosted demand. For many OEMs, the key focus during the year was on taking 5G to the lower segment driven by a shift in consumer preferences. 5G smartphone shipment share crossed 52% in 2023, growing 66% YoY. The last quarter (October-December) exited the market with healthy inventory levels compared to last year, setting the right tone for growth for next year. We believe the market will grow by 5% YoY next year driven by premiumization, diffusion of 5G in lower price bands and better macroeconomic conditions.”

Source: Counterpoint Research Monthly India Smartphone Tracker

Commenting on the competitive landscape and brand-level analyses, Research Analyst Shubham Singh said, “Samsung led the market in 2023 with an 18% share driven by a strong performance of the A series, aggressive marketing in offline, and focussed approach in the premium segment. vivo ranked second with a 17% share and led the affordable premium segment in 2023 driven by CMF (Colour, Material, Finish)-focused V29 series in offline and T series in online. Xiaomi slipped to the third spot in 2023 but captured the top spot in Q4 2023 driven by its strategy to launch 5G phones in the affordable segment, offline expansion and a leaner portfolio.

The premium segment (>INR 30,000, ~ $360) witnessed a 64% YoY growth in 2023 driven by easy financing schemes, which resulted in consumers jumping price bands to purchase higher-priced smartphones. One out of every three smartphones was purchased through financing in 2023. Apple’s focus on India is also aiding the trend, with the brand surpassing the 10-million-unit mark in shipments and capturing the top position in revenue in a calendar year for the first time, propelled by robust demand for both its latest and older iPhones. The opening of own retail stores and increasing focus on LFR (large-format retail) through regular promotions contributed to increased offline shipments. Besides, higher trade-in values presented an appealing proposition for consumers to transition to iOS.”

Source: Counterpoint Research Monthly India Smartphone Tracker

Other key insights

Offline channel growth: Offline channels witnessed growth throughout the year to reach 55% share in 2023 driven by consumers’ preference for the ‘look and feel’ of the device. We believe offline channels will continue to grow in 2024 as well due to the ongoing trend of premiumization, increasing trade-ins and availability of more financing schemes.

Looking at 2024

There will be a huge OEM focus on CMF across different price points, encouraging consumers to opt for the same.
We expect a growing trend of audio-video enhancements in smartphones, powered by features like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision recording. Consumers can also share their video content on short-video platforms like Moj in Dolby Vision. Also, the incorporation of GenAI in smartphones is expected to contribute to the development of more personalized content and smarter digital assistants.
Foldables will also become more popular in the premium segment as more OEMs are coming up with foldable devices. We believe that foldable shipments will cross the 1-million milestone in 2024.

Other notable brands

OnePlus grew by 33% YoY in 2023 driven by offline expansion and better product portfolio in the affordable premium segment (INR 30,000-INR 45,000, ~ $360-$540).
Transsion brands grew by 31% YoY mainly driven by a hybrid channel strategy, focus on bringing premium features to the affordable segment and strong presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Infinix was the first brand to bring 8GB RAM and OLED to the sub-INR 10,000 (~$120) segment.
Other brands that grew in 2023 were Google (111%), Lava (36%) and Motorola (13%).

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Q4 2023 India Smartphone Tracker’ is available for subscribing clients.

Feel free to contact us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

The Market Monitor research relies on sell-in (shipments) estimates based on vendors’ IR results and vendor polling, triangulated with sell-through (sales), supply chain checks and secondary research.

You can also visit our Data Section (updated quarterly) to view the smartphone market shares for World, US, China and India.

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Global Semiconductor Revenues Decline 8.8% in 2023; AI Promises Gains in 2024

Intel reclaimed the #1 spot in terms of revenue in 2023 due to Samsung’s slowdown from memory downturn.
NVIDIA capitalized on AI investments to almost double its revenues in 2023 and claim the #3 spot.
The memory sector suffered the most in 2023 due to weak demand and oversupply.
Artificial intelligence and memory rebound will be the revenue driver in 2024.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 26, 2024

The global semiconductor industry’s revenue declined 8.8% in 2023 due to a slowdown in enterprise and consumer spending, according to preliminary results/forecasts from Counterpoint Research. Besides, the overall 2023 semiconductor revenue rankings saw some big changes from 2022, like Intel reclaiming the top spot from Samsung as the latter suffered a lot from the memory sector downtrend as well as lackluster smartphone business. AI provided positive news to the semiconductor industry, emerging as a key content and revenue driver, especially in the second half of the year. NVIDIA appeared to be the largest beneficiary, followed by AMD. Both will be growing their AI-related businesses in the coming years.

We believe 2023 was a year for semiconductor companies to fine-tune their strategies/outlook and manage inventory adjustments to prepare for the impending AI boom. According to Counterpoint’s semiconductor revenue tracker, only 6 out of the top 20 global semiconductor vendors reported YoY revenue growth. The memory sector, in particular, experienced strong headwinds and was down 43% YoY in terms of revenue in 2023. We also found that the top 20 global semiconductor vendors contributed to 71% of the market, down from 76% in 2022 and showing a 14% YoY revenue decline.

Top 10 Semiconductor Companies’ Revenue 55% of Global Revenue

Source: Counterpoint Research
(*) numbers are based on preliminary forecasts by Counterpoint Research

Intel reclaimed its first place in semiconductor revenue rankings in 2023, though it reported a 16% YoY decline in its revenue largely due to a double-digit YoY shipment decline in both the PC and server segments. Samsung too was massively affected by the memory market slowdown in both DRAM and NAND segments, reporting a 38% YoY decline in its revenue. The memory market was mainly hit by soft demand in the PC, server and smartphone segments as well as oversupply and excess inventory across the market. SK hynix and Micron, two other major players in the memory market, also reported huge declines in their revenues at 33% and 36% YoY, respectively.

NVIDIA was in the spotlight in 2023 thanks to the acceleration of AI deployments. We believe the company will continue to lead the semiconductor industry’s growth because of its high market share of general-purpose GPUs used in AI/high-performance computing. NVIDIA saw an 86% YoY revenue growth in 2023 to rank third in terms of revenue, its first-ever top-five position.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst William Li said, “In general, we believe artificial intelligence (AI server, AI PC, AI smartphone, etc.) will continue to be a major organic growth driver in the semiconductor industry in 2024, followed by the memory sector’s rebound due to normalizing oversupply situation and demand recovery. The automotive sector could be another driver for the market due to content growth, which was already a key revenue driver for Infineon and STMicroelectronics in 2023.”

Since we are at the end of the inventory correction cycle and the support from clients’ demand is relatively solid, supply constraints will likely be the key variants to keep an eye on. During its latest quarterly earnings call, the world’s largest foundry player, TSMC, maintained its solid capacity expansion plan for 2024. The company holds an optimistic view on its utilization rate in the coming quarters, which also reaffirms our view of strong demand throughout the year.

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China Smartphone Sales Snap 10-Quarter Declining Streak, Up 6.6% YoY in Q4

Q4 2023 saw 6.6% YoY growth, marking the first quarterly increase in more than two years.
Apple took the top spot followed by Xiaomi and Huawei.
Apple’s sales dropped 9.0% YoY in Q4 while Huawei’s sales rose 71.1% driven by its 5G chipset.
Xiaomi and HONOR managed to sustain growth momentum from Q3 into Q4.
For the full year of 2023, China smartphone sales fell 1.4% YoY, compared to a 13.9% YoY decline in 2022.
The market is expected to record low single-digit YoY growth in 2024, the first one since 2018.

Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego, Seoul – January 25, 2024

China’s smartphone sales bottomed out in Q4 2023, increasing 6.6% YoY to mark the first quarterly YoY growth after 10 consecutive quarters of YoY declines, according to Counterpoint’s Market Pulse Service. Huawei’s comeback with its own 5G chipsets continued to attract consumers, while Xiaomi and HONOR sustained strong performance with double-digit growth.

Notes: OPPO includes OnePlus; Xiaomi includes Redmi; vivo includes iQOO; Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Despite a 9.0% YoY drop, Apple retained its first position in Q4 with 20.2% market share, followed by Xiaomi (16%) and HONOR (15.2%).

However, from an annual perspective, China’s smartphone sales still declined 1.4% YoY, compared to a 13.9% YoY decline in 2022. Apple ranked first with 17.9% share, followed by vivo (16.9%) and OPPO (16.2%).

Source: Counterpoint Market Pulse Service
Notes: OPPO includes OnePlus; Xiaomi includes Redmi; vivo includes iQOO; Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Associate Director Ethan Qi said, “There are several factors behind the YoY growth in Q4 2023. The market was at a low point in Q4 2022, making YoY comparisons more favorable. Besides, new Huawei phones powered by its own 5G chipsets drove the Q4 2023 recovery to some extent.”

Commenting on OEM performance, Research Analyst Archie Zhang said, “Huawei’s Kirin chipset was the primary driver of the brand’s growth. Xiaomi and HONOR also adopted aggressive strategies, including for marketing and distribution, to boost sales. Xiaomi’s Mi 14 series, HONOR’s X50 series and the HONOR 100 contributed to their strong growth.”

In Q4 2023, Apple faced stiff competition from Huawei. Besides, the iPhone 15 series’ performance was lukewarm, something which was also indicated by the strong sales of the iPhone 14 series in H1. It seems OPPO and vivo are yet to benefit from the market recovery so far.

Looking ahead to 2024, Counterpoint Research expects low single-digit YoY growth for China’s smartphone market, bringing it back to growth after five years. Huawei’s mid-end Nova 12 series with 5G Kirin chipsets, launched at the end of Q4 2023, is expected to continue bringing back loyal users. Apple embraced price cuts in January to capitalize on the recovery and offset the pressure from local OEMs. Chinese OEMs are also expected to focus on generative AI, innovative form factors like foldables, and advanced imaging technologies to boost sales and expand their user bases.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media, and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Global PC Shipments Show Early Signs of Recovery in Q4 2023; AI PC to be Major Driver in 2024

The global PC market’s shipment contraction cycle reached an end in Q4 2023 with a 0.2% YoY decline.
PC OEMs’ rankings remained unchanged. Restocking saw soft momentum at the end of 2023.
AI PC, a key topic at the recently concluded CES 2024, will be in the PC industry’s spotlight in 2024.
AI PC and commercial PC replacement are expected to support 5% YoY shipment growth in 2024.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 18, 2024

The global PC market ended Q4 2023 with a 0.2% YoY shipment decline, according to the latest Counterpoint Research data. This was the eighth consecutive quarter of a YoY shipment decline. The year-end holiday season failed to trigger a meaningful shipment recovery. Both OEMs and ODMs expect that shipment momentum will come back in H1 2024.

For the full year of 2023, the global PC market saw a 14% YoY shipment decline due to a slowdown in commercial and consumer sectors both. Besides, there were several product launches in the second half of 2023, most of which will start shipping in 2024. This affected the shipment momentum in 2023. On the other hand, PC inventory level normalized to a healthy level, paving the way for upcoming new products.

Mixed performance in Q4; shipment correction cycle in 2023

PC OEMs’ rankings remained unchanged throughout 2023 as soft demand and inventory digestions held back shipment performance across the market. However, we still saw different growth trajectories of top PC vendors. Lenovo and HP both had around mid-single-digit YoY shipment growth in Q4 2023 thanks to market recovery and warm restocking momentum in North America. Dell saw a 9% YoY shipment decline due to the commercial sector slowdown, while Apple remained resilient in the quarter with a 2% YoY shipment growth.

Source: Counterpoint Research PC market monitor

For the full year of 2023, Lenovo and HP continued to lead the market with 24% and 21% market shares, respectively, with the latter reporting a relatively resilient 5% YoY shipment decline thanks to warm restocking momentum in the North American market. Dell had a 16% market share while suffering weak commercial demand which resulted in a 20% shipment decline. Apple also left 2023 with a 14% shipment decline while maintaining its market share at around 9%.

AI PC to be major driver of PC industry in 2024

We believe AI PC will be in the spotlight in 2024 as Intel and AMD both have CPU solutions (Meteor Lake and Hawk Point) for next-generation AI PCs. In Q4 2023, PC vendors also continued to announce new AI PC products across different segments. After CES, more AI PC products will be launched by vendors, though we expect the major replacement cycle will be backend-loaded in H2 2024. We expect to see a 50% AI laptop sales share in 2025, with at least an NPU or an AI accelerator (AI engine) equipped in the PC in addition to its major CPU and GPU.

AI Laptop Penetration will Climb in Coming Years

Enterprise spending slowdown and the process of destocking in 2023 will trigger PC vendors’ restocking demand, which would be a driver for the commercial PC sector. On the other hand, Qualcomm’s Nuvia-based Snapdragon X Elite solutions for Arm PC would be an additional driver throughout 2024. This will potentially mark another milestone for Arm PCs, followed by Apple’s success in its M-series MacBook series.

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Two-thirds of Cars Sold in Q3 2023 Featured Embedded Connectivity

Global connected car sales grew 28% YoY in Q3 2023.
Developed countries with strong government push lead in connected car sales.
By 2030, more than 90% of connected cars sold will have embedded 5G connectivity.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 17, 2024

Global connected car sales* grew 28% YoY in Q3 2023, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Global Connected Car Sales Tracker. Every 2 out of 3 cars sold in Q3 2023 had embedded connectivity in them. China led with around 33% share in global connected car sales, followed by the US and Europe. These top three regions constituted more than 75% of the global connected car sales in Q3.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “Germany has the highest share of connected cars in its passenger car sales owing to the initial government push towards connected vehicles through mandates like eCall. After Germany, the US, France, and the UK have the highest share of connected cars in their respective passenger car sales.

With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, the connectivity penetration in a car is increasing. 4G still dominates this space with more than 95% sales share, while 5G adoption is slower than the industry’s projections earlier. The lack of robust 5G infrastructure along the highways, non-availability of unique 5G use cases within the car, and supply chain issues are some of the reasons for slower adoption of 5G in passenger cars.”

Mandal added, “With growing consumer tech awareness and need for connectivity, the sales of non-connected cars are steadily declining. The top five automotive groups accounted for nearly 45% of the connected cars sold in Q3 2023. Toyota Group led the charts in terms of shipments with a 12% sales share, closely followed by the Volkswagen Group. GM Group, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group and Stellantis were the other three in the top five.”

Commenting on the market outlook, Vice President Research Neil Shah said, “The connectivity in cars is slowly gaining preference in developing economies too and becoming the main differentiator in the market. It is expected that more than 95% of all new passenger cars will have embedded connectivity by 2030. 4G connectivity will continue to dominate, while 5G connectivity will gradually rise with the introduction of more L3 and above cars in the market. 2026 will likely be the inflection point for adopting 5G in automotive applications. By 2030, more than 90% of connected cars sold will have embedded 5G connectivity.”

* Sales here refer to wholesale figures, i.e. deliveries out of factories by respective brands, and consider only passenger cars with embedded connectivity.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Global Connected Car Tracker, Q3 2023’ and ‘Global Connected Car Forecast, 2019-2030F’ are now available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com.

Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

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XR Gets Apple Vision Pro Boost, Market Set to Bounce Back in 2024

XR headset shipments are expected to increase by a record 3.9 million units in 2024, marking a high double-digit YoY growth from a small base.
Major releases in 2024, including Apple’s Vision Pro, will sustain the momentum generated by Meta and Sony in 2023 with the launch of Quest 3 and PlayStation VR2 respectively.
AR is projected to grow from a very small base, driven by successful launches like XREAL’s Air 2 and Air 2 Pro.
North America, the biggest XR market, will further widen its lead in 2024 as Apple’s Vision Pro is exclusively available in the region for much of the year.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 9, 2024

Extended Reality (XR) headset shipments are projected to increase by a record 3.9 million units in 2024 to clock a high double-digit YoY growth, according to the latest Counterpoint Global XR (VR/AR) Forecast. Apple’s Vision Pro, which goes on sale in the US on February 2 (with pre-orders starting on January 19), will generate user interest and industry movement which will benefit incumbents. 2024 will also carry forward the momentum from 2023, marked by several launches from major players like Meta and Sony.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst Harmeet Singh Walia said, “Apple’s highly-anticipated entry into the XR space has long been expected to mark a watershed moment for the industry. However, we expect Apple to sell about half a million units of Vision Pro, its $3,500 mixed reality (MR)* headset, in 2024. This makes up a low single-digit share of the 2024 global XR market. The first iteration of the Vision Pro headset will primarily attract die-hard Apple fans, developers, early adopters and enterprise users. A more optimistic scenario could unfold if Apple successfully boosts the supply of key components for the headset and experiences higher-than-expected interest from the end market. Moreover, the consumer interest Apple’s entry is generating will benefit market incumbents offering competitively priced headsets, towards which many enthusiasts who wish to try the technology without incurring Apple’s hefty price tag would gravitate, boosting the global XR market.”

2024 will see the continuation of another trend – the transition from pure virtual reality (VR) to MR* as major players, both existing and upcoming, rush to launch MR products or add passthrough to successors of their pre-existing headsets. Since Counterpoint considers such headsets as part of its VR category*, it remains dominant. The standalone form factor is preferred and is likely to remain so despite Apple’s Vision Pro requiring a wired connection with an external battery case.

Augmented Reality (AR) is projected to grow by 54% YoY in 2024, bucking the trend of three years of consecutive declines. This growth will be driven by XREAL’s Air 2 and Air 2 Pro AR Glasses, which quickly became the best-selling AR glasses in China. Besides XREAL, which targets the larger consumer segment, AR will be driven by high-spec and high-price products in the niche enterprise segment. At just about 2%, AR, however, will remain a small contributor to overall XR shipments.

Commenting on the regional performance, Senior Analyst Karn Chauhan said, “North America was already the biggest contributor to XR shipments with nearly 70% of the best-selling Meta headsets shipping in the region. This will grow further in 2024 as Apple’s Vision Pro is available for sale exclusively in the US for most of its first year. While Europe remains a major market, as with its economy, its share of the XR market is expected to lag further behind North America due to slower adoption and limited content. Streaming not taking off as a use case, strict gaming regulations, and the education and enterprise segments, in which XR is popular in China, being niche, growth in China too will remain sluggish in 2024. The rest of Asia-Pacific benefited from the launch of Sony’s PlayStation VR2, which did well in its home country of Japan, among the few major XR markets in the region together with South Korea, Australia and New Zealand that will continue performing strongly in 2024.”

Samsung’s re-entry into the segment, likely with an MR* headset in 2024, will also generate traction, but regardless of its launch price, it will contribute less than Apple to global shipment growth due to a late-year launch.

Pico, owned by TikTok’s parent ByteDance, is unlikely to fully recover from the setbacks its latest Pico 4 suffered in 2023. DPVR, another major Chinese player, while remaining strong in the Chinese education sector, will struggle to break out as a major global player despite having launched E4, its gaming PC VR headset.

*Counterpoint’s XR services currently divide the market into two device types – VR and AR. AR includes glasses and headsets with transparent displays. VR includes headsets that substantially or fully obscure the real world but may use video-pass-through (VPT) technology to feed real-world views to the wearer and/or combine them with digitally created environments, hence covering headsets (including Apple’s Vision Pro) commonly marketed as MR, which Counterpoint currently buckets under its VR category.

Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

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HERE Leads Location Platform Effectiveness Rankings

HERE led in 8 out of 10 categories and 44 out of 84 sub-categories.
TomTom’s new vision is paying handsomely and providing tough competition.
Google is making headway in the automotive industry.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 5, 2024

HERE and TomTom have emerged as leaders in Counterpoint Research’s Location Platform Effectiveness Index for 2023. They are followed by Google, Mapbox and Baidu.

To help better understand the location ecosystem, key player offerings, capabilities and market trends, Counterpoint Research publishes the Location Platform Effectiveness Index report annually. It analyzes over 25 leading mapping and location platform vendors using our proprietary CORE (COmpetitive Ranking Evaluation) framework. This comprehensive evaluation is based on more than 80 key capabilities spanning 10 categories – (1) Maps data; (2) Location intelligence; (3) Location services; (4) Data platform; (5) AI capabilities; (6) Sustainability; (7) Developer ecosystem; (8) Partners; (9) Business performance and (10) Customer growth.

For companies across sectors such as automotive, transport and logistics, enterprise, O2O, retail and government, these capabilities are imperative to understand, choose and partner platforms. The abovementioned sectors heavily depend on location data, maps and related tools for their day-to-day planning, operations, and fleet and asset management among other location-centric applications.

Source: Location Platform Effectiveness Index 2023

HERE remains at the pole position of location platform rankings for the seventh consecutive year. In the last 12 months, HERE introduced highly automated AI/ML-driven mapping technology called Unimap to drive freshness, efficiency and customization at scale, giving it a unique advantage. The company continued to expand its portfolio by introducing new products and services like HERE Road Alerts and HERE Automated Driving Zones. Key companies added to HERE’s customer portfolio included Lotus, Scania, Ford, Vinfast, Uber and Cognizant.

Commenting on HERE’s success, Research Analyst Mohit Sharma said, “HERE’s commitment to sustained innovation along with a no-compromise approach towards data privacy and security have helped the company grow its customer and partner network.”

TomTom maintained its second position, inching closer to its industry peer HERE with a growing portfolio of offerings, capabilities and customer wins.

Commenting on TomTom’s growth, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “TomTom’s success is built on its new Orbis Platform with enhanced map quality and revamped developer ecosystem along with growing third-party network through its partnership with Microsoft. TomTom’s AI-based voice assistant for vehicles has put the company ahead of its peers like Google and HERE and complements its Digital Cockpit offering. The TomTom brand refresh along with a more usable website and developer portal have also helped.”

Google secured the third rank among location and mapping platform providers worldwide. The company continues to build services to offer immersive and real-world experiences to its customers by taking advantage of a vast database of satellite and aerial imagery.

Commenting on Google’s evolution, Vice President Research Neil Shah said, “Google is aggressively challenging the market leaders in automotive navigation by adding new map products and services (HD Map and EV charging) just for vehicles. Further, Google is looking to ‘flexibly’ license its maps data and services such as YouTube as a bundle without the automotive OS. It is happy to cede control over the data which has been the key bottleneck for OEMs who don’t want to share their data with Google.

Google also remained strong in the B2C sector thanks to 2 billion+ Android users and a robust app developer ecosystem attracting customers in the retail, logistics and O2O space.

Mapbox sustained its lead among the top five platforms globally. It is strong in the North American market and plans to expand in markets such as Japan and Europe. Enhanced platform capabilities such as Autopilot Map, AI-powered MapGPT and its industry-leading map and data visualization tools have helped Mapbox attract customers as well as funding to scale the platform.

Shah added, “For example, the recent funding from SoftBank will help Mapbox expand its automotive-centric offerings and bring AI capabilities to its platform that will further help the company stay competitive in the market and expand its global presence.”

Regional players like Baidu, MapmyIndia, Zenrin and Naver continue to lead in their home markets China, India, Japan and South Korea respectively.

Segment leaders

HERE led in ADAS (ISA) Map, HD Map, EV services, tracking and positioning, Platform privacy, Security and more.
TomTom led in Navigation, Offline maps, Traffic information, Infotainment and more.
Google led mainly in Maps coverage, Data depth, POIs, AR, Indoor maps and other areas.
Mapbox led in Developer evangelism, Visualization tools and more.
ESRI led in Sustainability, Analytical tools, Digital twin and more.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Location Platform Effectiveness Index 2023 Part 1-Industry Overview and CORE Analysis’ is now available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com.

Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

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Amid Waning Demand, Cellular IoT Module Market Faces Another Challenging Quarter in Q3 2023

Despite a decline in shipments, Quectel continued to lead, followed by Fibocom and China Mobile.
The top five applications – smart meter, automotive, POS, router/CPE and telematics – accounted for over 60% of total cellular IoT module shipments.
Against the backdrop of muted demand, full-year shipments for 2023 are expected to decline by 5%.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego – January 4, 2024

Global cellular IoT module shipments saw a 2% YoY decline in Q3 2023, according to Counterpoint’s latest Global Cellular IoT Module and Chipset Tracker by Application report. Weaker demand, rising interest rates and cautious spending from enterprise IoT players are some of the important factors for slowdown in this market.

For the first time, the 5G market’s share in the global cellular IoT module market crossed 5%, indicating traction for 5G adoption. However, 5G applications are currently limited due to the lack of killer use cases and higher prices. We are only witnessing early adoption in the router/CPE, PC and automotive markets.

The IoT module market is undergoing a technology transition from 4G Cat 1 and NB-IoT to 4G Cat 1 bis. The low-cost and power-efficient 4G Cat 1 bis is becoming popular for many applications, including POS, smart meter, telematics and asset tracking.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “The top five applications, encompassing smart meter, automotive, POS, router/CPE and telematics, accounted for over 60% of total cellular IoT module shipments this quarter. Notably, only the smart meter and router/CPE segments observed positive growth in shipments, with other applications experiencing a decline.

India stands out as the only region to register positive growth in the global cellular IoT module market. Conversely, the market outside of China and India saw a steeper decline compared to China. Contrary to industry expectations, the market is not gaining momentum.”

Quectel, the market leader, and Telit Cinterion, one of the leading international vendors, experienced a decline in shipments. This trend mirrors the prevailing conditions in both the Chinese and global IoT module markets. However, Quectel showed a slight improvement in performance in the global market on a sequential basis.
In contrast, the other two vendors in the top five – China Mobile and Fibocom – saw positive growth. This growth was driven by smart meter, asset tracker and POS for China Mobile and router/CPE applications for Fibocom. China Mobile recently established a subsidiary, BILIN’ZHILIAN, to accelerate its module business growth.
Certain Chinese brands such as Unionman, OpenLuat and Lierda exhibited positive performance from a niche perspective. Their growth was fuelled by applications in smart meters, asset tracking and POS.

Commenting on the future outlook, Senior Research Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “Global cellular IoT module shipments are projected to experience a 5% YoY decline in 2023. However, demand revival is expected by the second half of 2024, with substantial growth predicted for 2025, coinciding with the mass adoption of 5G and 5G RedCap. In the long term, the cellular IoT module market holds promise and applications such as smart meter, router/CPE, POS, automotive and asset tracking will be driving most of the growth for this market.”

For detailed research, refer to the following reports available for subscribing clients and individuals:

Counterpoint tracks 1,500+ IoT module SKUs on a quarterly basis and provides forecasts on shipments, revenues and ASP performances for 80+ IoT module vendors, 12+ chipset players and 18+ IoT applications across 10 major geographies.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

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