Overview:

The global smartphone market declined by 14% YoY in Q1 2023 to reach 280.2 million units while the global handset market declined by 13% YoY in the same period to 333.1 million units. Samsung surpassed Apple as the leading smartphone player in Q1 2023, driven by the success of its mid-tier A Series and the recently launched S23 series. China’s smartphone market fell 8% YoY and 2% QoQ in Q1 2023 as most of the major brands in the country saw a YoY decline, except Apple and Huawei, which grew 8% YoY and 57% YoY, respectively. Apple is also the biggest contributor in China with a 20% market share followed by vivo with 16%. Samsung maintained its leadership position in the Indian smartphone market with 6.36 million units accounting for 20% of market share, followed by vivo which surpassed Xiaomi to rank second with a 17% share. OnePlus saw a tremendous 71% YoY growth. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) exhibited the only single digit decline with an 8% fall, although this was based on a relatively small market size. Europe saw the largest decline of any region, falling 41% YoY, primarily driven by declines in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. Among the top five brands, Apple experienced the smallest YoY decline in shipments during the quarter, which helped it capture its highest-ever Q1 market share of 21%. In Q1 2023, Samsung's global smartphone shipments fell 19% YoY but grew 4% QoQ to 60.1 million units. In all major regions, Samsung saw a YoY decrease in shipments. In Europe, it registered a maximum decline of 27% YoY to reach 12.6 million units. Apple continued to be the largest contributor to 5G smartphone shipments. The brand’s 5G shipments remained flattish YoY in Q1 2023 to reach 56.55 million units. The US and China were among the top contributors with market share of about 28% and 24%, respectively. In India, Apple’s 5G smartphones grew 73% YoY to reach 1.89 million units. LTE shipments declined 37% YoY and shipments of 5G-capable handsets increased by 2%. The top 5 brands accounted for close to 82% of total 5G shipments in Q1 2023. The share of 5G-capable handsets shipped during the quarter decreased by two-thirds of a percentage point since Q4 2022 but remained close to the all-time high of 50%. While China continued to contribute to over a third of all 5G shipments, its 5G shipments declined 8% annually while those of CALA (Caribbean and Latin America) and the MEA (Middle East and Africa) grew by 63% YoY and 55% YoY, respectively. At 28%, India’s sequential growth was the highest among all regions.

Counterpoint’s Market Monitor - Quarterly Market Detailed Overview is an insightful report providing detailed analysis of the vendor activity and performance, measuring both volume and revenue by sell-in by major region and key countries (70+) and top (140+) vendors covering close to 96% of the global handset shipments. It is one of the detailed industrywide services providing an analysis of the key market drivers broken out by volume and value – which OEMs, brands and models are performing well, in which markets and why. Based on the in-depth analysis and primary knowledge, the report also gives the smartphone industry shipments forecast.