The smartphone market is becoming increasingly binary

These are depressing numbers, according to Canalys, which found 11% fewer smartphones were sold globally last quarter. This was because of an unstable market: the pandemic (including the initial uncertainty about the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the Chinese quarantines) and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contributed to falling demand for smartphones.

The chip shortage that affected many electronics manufacturers last year played a lesser role for smartphone manufacturers in the first quarter of 2022.

Smartphone manufacturers themselves do not disclose their sales figures. The listed smartphone manufacturers are also hiding sales in larger product lines. This means market analysts like Canalys should be looked at.

The numbers show growth in only two smartphone manufacturers: Samsung and Apple, the two biggest players. The former is, and still is, the market leader with an increase of 2% compared to last year to 24%. Apple’s market share grew between 3% and 18% of global sales.

Other smartphone manufacturers have lost market share and have seen the gap between Samsung and Apple grow. Xiaomi dropped 13 percent, Oppo (including its OnePlus and Realme sub-brands) dropped to ten percent, and Vivo eventually dropped to eight percent. This means that Chinese brands are jointly making significant sacrifices. This was quite different a few years ago when Huawei was a big player. Due to the US trade embargo, this player has disappeared from the scene and other Chinese manufacturers don’t seem to be benefiting much from it.

Canalys’ figures are spherical. If we zoom in on the Dutch smartphone market, we come across another side: Statcounter. The duopoly is even more evident in the figures for the last quarter. The best selling smartphone is Apple: 39.5%, followed by Samsung with 37.5%. Together, these smartphone manufacturers control almost 80% of the Dutch market.

Here, Huawei is still visible at around five percent. Also, Xiaomi has a similar percentage in the current three numbers. There is quite a lag behind the market leaders.

Dutch figures differ slightly from global figures as markets are different. For example, the Chinese and Indian markets are dominated by Chinese smartphone brands, and Apple in particular is smaller than Western markets.

Analysts do not explain why Apple and Samsung are increasingly dominating the market. Canalys points to the new iPhone SE and Samsung’s Galaxy A series as possible drivers. But other factors, such as the ecosystem and support, can also contribute. In these areas, Chinese brands lag behind Apple and Samsung.