What you should know
- Worldwide smartphone gross sales in Q3 2023 hit about 300 million, a 1% dip in comparison with final yr, in line with Canalys.
- Apple, Samsung, and OPPO all misplaced worldwide market share in comparison with Q3 2022.
- Chinese language telephone model TRANSSION claimed the fifth spot beforehand owned by vivo.
The largest smartphone manufacturers have tread water or misplaced floor in worldwide smartphone gross sales this yr, together with family names like Samsung and Apple. However a comparatively unknown Chinese language telephone producer leaped into the highest 5 corporations on the earth, claiming almost the identical variety of telephones bought as OPPO.
Tanssion, the maker of Tecno, Itel, and Infinix telephones, climbed from 6% international market share final yr to 9% in 2023, a 50% bounce, whereas its bigger opponents misplaced floor.
In accordance with this Canalys report on Q3 2023 gross sales, Samsung and Apple lead whole gross sales with 20% and 17% market share, but each have fallen from their 22% and 18% ranges in 2022. Xiaomi matched final yr’s share solely by “recovering” from a horrible first half of 2023. OPPO has fallen steadily over the previous two years, whereas fellow BBK model vivo misplaced the top-5 slot it is owned for years.
Total, Canalys analysts say smartphone gross sales fell a mere 1% in comparison with Q3 2022, however in comparison with the declining smartphone market earlier this yr, we’re now seeing a “slowdown in its decline” due to “regional recoveries and new product improve demand.”
Based in 2006, Transsion distinguished itself from different Chinese language telephone makers by establishing a serious foothold in Africa and tailoring its telephones to customers there. It additionally sells telephones within the Center East and Latin America whereas not too long ago pushing into India.
Its latest technique has been to promote dependable telephones at aggressively low costs, such because the Tecno PHANTOM V Flip. Our reviewer famous that by promoting a $600 foldable, Tecno was “basically democratizing foldables by considerably reducing the barrier to entry.” It additionally confirmed off a rollable telephone idea at MWC this yr, which exhibits that Transsion is prepared to experiment with new type components slightly than merely copy the competitors.
We additionally reviewed the Infinix GT 10 Professional, praising its {hardware} and design for a sub-$300 value, even when it had some irritating downsides.
This Q3 2023 report makes an fascinating case that Samsung is “lowering publicity within the entry-level section to concentrate on profitability,” leaving room for manufacturers like Transsion to pounce in “rising markets.”
“These short-term wins would possibly flip into extra sustainable long-term success if Xiaomi and TRANSSION play their playing cards effectively,” the report concludes.
Apple, which launched the iPhone 15 sequence with about eight days left within the quarter, benefitted from pre-orders final quarter however is assured to achieve shares subsequent quarter. Nonetheless, after iPhone 14 Professional gross sales shot Apple’s market share larger final yr, it appears Apple might come again right down to Earth a bit this yr.
Samsung, in the meantime, must depend on the Galaxy S23 FE and Black Friday gross sales to tide itself over till early 2024 and the Galaxy S24 launch. And OPPO must hope that its OnePlus 12 and Discover N3 Flip launches will assist it bounce again by the tip of the yr.
