The world has been having a rather rough time of it of late, with the coronavirus pandemic and countless geopolitical struggles causing massive disruptions to the global economic system. The global smartphone industry has been hit especially hard, amidst widespread inflation, component shortages as well as tepid consumer demand. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that global smartphone sales just dipped below 100 million for the first time since 2020, and only the second time in nearly a decade, as reported by CounterPointResearch.
The shortage of components is slowly abating, but in spite of the fact that this is the case a slowdown of production in China as well as difficulties extracting raw materials during the Russian invasion of Ukraine are all dragging smartphone sales along with them. The industry saw a V shaped recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, but this recovery proved short lived as smartphone sales gradually declined in the subsequent period.
Most consumers who are looking to buy smartphones are replacing their old ones, which is a purchase that can often be put off for a later date. That might be leading to declining smartphone sales, and current estimations predict that this downward trend will continue at least through the current summer season.
However, the shopping season starting in the fall might spur some growth because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up resulting in smartphones being purchased as gifts for others. A number of Chinese and Indian festivals are also coming up that would help increase smartphone sales, but these statistics are still quite concerning because they indicate that the global recession will get a lot worse before it gets better.
We might not see the same heights in the smartphone industry until next year, since up until now the sales of these devices have failed to reach the levels that were seen prior to the pandemic. Major companies like Apple and Samsung might weather the storm, but newer and smaller companies might not be able to survive.
Read next: Smartphone Revenues to Increasingly Rely on Software and Services in the Next Decade
The shortage of components is slowly abating, but in spite of the fact that this is the case a slowdown of production in China as well as difficulties extracting raw materials during the Russian invasion of Ukraine are all dragging smartphone sales along with them. The industry saw a V shaped recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, but this recovery proved short lived as smartphone sales gradually declined in the subsequent period.
Most consumers who are looking to buy smartphones are replacing their old ones, which is a purchase that can often be put off for a later date. That might be leading to declining smartphone sales, and current estimations predict that this downward trend will continue at least through the current summer season.
However, the shopping season starting in the fall might spur some growth because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up resulting in smartphones being purchased as gifts for others. A number of Chinese and Indian festivals are also coming up that would help increase smartphone sales, but these statistics are still quite concerning because they indicate that the global recession will get a lot worse before it gets better.
We might not see the same heights in the smartphone industry until next year, since up until now the sales of these devices have failed to reach the levels that were seen prior to the pandemic. Major companies like Apple and Samsung might weather the storm, but newer and smaller companies might not be able to survive.
Read next: Smartphone Revenues to Increasingly Rely on Software and Services in the Next Decade
