Smartphone shipments in Europe, like many other industries, have been hit hard by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Canalys analysts say. According to their data, 41.7 million smartphones were shipped to the region in Q1’22, which is 10% less than a year ago.
“Most of the decline in Europe was due to Russia and Ukraine being hit hard. Shipments in the countries fell 31% and 51% respectively compared with Q1 2021,” said Canalys Research Analyst Runar Bjørhovde.
“Shipments in the rest of Europe only declined 3.5% year on year, showing that demand remains intact. But the ongoing war has driven inflation to a record level and consumer confidence is falling. The real test for the smartphone market will come in the next two quarters when the economic impact of the war truly starts to be felt.”
Earlier, TrendForce experts predicted difficult times for smartphones. They have already lowered their forecast for the global smartphone market several times and in May said that in 2022 the world will produce about 1.33 billion smartphones, and possibly less.
According to the Canalys report, Samsung is the leader in the European smartphone market. Last quarter, the company shipped 14.6 million smartphones to the region. Although shipments are down 9% compared to 2021, the Korean vendor’s market share remained at 35%.
Demand for the iPhone 13 has helped Apple increase smartphone shipments to Europe by 1% to 8.9 million units. Considering this, the share of the American vendor was 21% against 19% a year earlier. Xiaomi closed the top-3, with European shipments at 8.2 million units. Compared to last year’s figures, it’s a 22% decrease in units and a 3% decrease in market share: from 23% to 20%.
Realme showed the best dynamics among the leading smartphone brands in Europe. In Q1’22, the Chinese vendor shipped 2.1 million smartphones to the region, improving the annual result by 177%. Realme’s market share increased from 2% to 5% y-o-y. OPPO took fifth place, with shipment estimates at 1.8 million devices or 4%.
“Emerging vendors are accelerating despite the uncertainty,” said Canalys Research Analyst Ayush Shastry. “Supply limitations and varying demand from market to market have provided opportunities for new names to break in and take share. The focus of realme and Vivo on indirect retail and ecommerce channels has borne fruit. As the industry faces many risks, on both the supply and demand sides, improving specific channel partnerships will be key for vendors in the upcoming quarters. Competition within the channel is high, and vendors have a unique opportunity to help differentiate their channel partners’ offerings and build stronger long-term relationships.”
You can also help Ukraine fight with Russian occupants via Savelife or via an official page of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Read also:
- Motorola confidently holds 3rd place in the US market
- Samsung leads 5G smartphones market with 24% share