A wide variety of difficulties are leaving their mark on the mobile market: in 2020, the coronavirus, in 2021, supply difficulties, and this year, inflation in one part of the world, and the health emergency in another, had a negative impact, and the recession, which presents new challenges, is upon us. Apple seems not to have been affected by this: its Mini and Plus devices may not be selling so well, but the others are, and Cupertino raised its prices in such a way that its revenues increased by 7% year-on-year in the third quarter. iPhones are responsible for 42% of the total sales revenue of the entire mobile market, writes Counterpoint Research, and only after this is Apple’s even greater advantage in terms of profitability.
Percentage distribution of mobile market sales in the third quarter of 2021 and 2022 (source: Counterpoint Research) [+]
On the other hand, Samsung can still be happy that its sales barely fell in the third quarter, still bringing in half of iPhones. At the same time, the Korean FN News notes: lower-priced Galaxy phones continue to sell really well, and Samsung did not manage to sell 30 million Galaxy S22 series phones this year, nor as many Z Flip4s as expected after the success of its predecessor. . The main reason for the former is the chips and the Game of Service scandal around, and the design of the latter cannot change at all, as the bendable market is extremely trend-sensitive. So it may be that although Samsung phones are more expensive this year than last year, while the average purchase price of iPhones increased by 7%, that of Galaxy phones only by 2%.
With its excellent and extremely expensive devices, Apple’s market advantage became even greater [+]
The big loser in the third quarter was BBK Electronics, however, due to the deepening crisis in China, then persistent shutdowns and the related wave of protests: in the period under review, Oppo’s sales fell 27% year-on-year, and Vivo’s fell 43%. If that wasn’t enough, the communist state responded to the total closure with a total opening, with an uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, so the end of the season and the opening of 2023 will not be cloudless either, even though the real economic challenges will only come after that.
