Electronics

According to Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation Report, since the beginning of this year, many leading manufacturers around the world have announced large-scale production cuts. Affected by the epidemic, the recession in the smartphone market has further intensified.

China's smartphone shipments fell back to the level of 2013, and the market share began to decline year by year

According to IDC's forecast, global smartphone shipments in 2022 will decrease by 6.5% year-on-year to 1.27 billion units. This means that global smartphone shipments will fall back to 2014 levels. In 2021, China's smartphone shipments will also fall back to 2013 levels. In terms of growth momentum, the growth rate of global smartphone shipments is generally higher than that of China, but the gap between the two is gradually narrowing in recent years.

According to Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation Report, in the ten years from 2012 to 2021, the global smartphone market has gradually fallen into recession after achieving rapid development. In the second year of the COVID-19 outbreak, both global and Chinese smartphone shipments rose slightly after four consecutive years of decline.

In addition, in the past ten years, China's smartphone shipments accounted for more than 20% of the global total. From 2013 to 2017, the proportion was still more than 30%. Since 2017, China's share of smartphone shipments in the world has been decreasing year by year.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, smartphone shipments in the domestic market have recovered and then turned cold again. According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, in February 2021, the year-on-year growth rate of smartphone shipments in the domestic market has soared, achieving triple-digit growth. However, after a brief recovery in 2021, smartphone shipments in the domestic market have fallen again this year.

Online sales of smartphones in the domestic market plummeted during Double Eleven this year, the largest drop since the outbreak. Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation reported that during this year’s Double 11 online shopping festival, online sales of smartphones in the domestic market were 9 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 35%, while the previous two years saw year-on-year growth.

Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Apple's smartphone shipments have maintained positive growth. Before the epidemic, its shipments had declined for two consecutive years. According to IDC data, in the first three quarters of this year, among the top five brands in global smartphone shipments, Apple became the only mobile phone brand whose shipments increased year-on-year.

In the first two years of the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Xiaomi's smartphone shipments also achieved rapid growth, ranking third in the world. In the first three quarters of this year, Xiaomi's mobile phone shipments fell sharply, down 77.96% year-on-year. Although Samsung's smartphone shipments still occupy the top spot in the world, its year-on-year growth rate has slowed down and is showing a downward trend.

What mobile phones are people all over the world using? From the perspective of the global market, Canalys data shows that among the top five mobile phone brands in the world in terms of smartphone market share in 2021, three domestic mobile phone brands, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, account for more than 30% of the combined market share.

In the Chinese mainland market, the market share of domestic mobile phone brands occupies a dominant position. In 2021, vivo will become the best-selling mobile phone brand in China, followed by OPPO and Xiaomi, and Apple will rank fourth with a market share of 15%. In terms of growth rate, Apple's annual growth rate reached 44%, much higher than other domestic brands.

From the perspective of the world’s five largest markets, in 2021, in the European market, people’s preferred mobile phone brands are Samsung and Xiaomi, followed by Apple; in the Latin American market, Samsung’s mobile phones are the most sold, followed by Lenovo and Xiaomi; In the Middle East and African markets, the little-known domestic mobile phone brand Transsion is the most popular among locals, followed by Samsung; in the Asia-Pacific market, domestic mobile phone brands are more popular, ranking among the top five mobile phone brands in market share, except Except for Samsung, the rest are all domestic mobile phone brands; in the North American market, Apple has nearly half of the market share and has become the most popular local mobile phone brand.

Affected by the market, since the beginning of this year, a number of leading mobile phone manufacturers have reported "cutting orders". The main direction is to reduce the low-end models and develop high-end models. According to reports, Samsung and Apple plan to reduce the production of low-end and mid-range mobile phones, and increase or maintain the production of high-end mobile phones. The third quarterly report of Xiaomi Group this year shows that the company's domestic shipments of high-end smartphones (priced at 3,000 yuan and above) achieved year-on-year growth.

This year's Double Eleven, Apple and Xiaomi dominated the high-end and mid-end mobile phone markets respectively. According to Strategy Analytics data, during this year's domestic Double Eleven e-commerce festival, Apple's mobile phone sales share reached 39%, ranking first, 8 percentage points higher than Xiaomi. In addition, Apple's mobile phone revenue share is as high as 68%. The iPhone 14 series and iPhone 13 are the best-selling models on Double Eleven this year, dominating the high-end market. With a revenue share of 13%, Xiaomi phones dominated the mid-range segment.

In the global high-end smartphone market, the top-selling mobile phone brands include Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. A report released by the market research company Counterpoint shows that in 2021, Apple's sales share in the global high-end smartphone market will account for nearly 60%, occupying a dominant position. Compared with 2020, the sales share of Apple's high-end smartphones has increased, while Samsung and Huawei have both declined, Watson & Band Import and Export Data Observation reported.