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A new report from Counterpoint Research indicates that Apple’s new iPhones will deliver pleasing sales results despite the shipment volume declines being experienced by different companies worldwide. According to the report, Samsung’s foldables will complement this move, resulting in “a bump in sales volumes in the coming quarters.”
Counterpoint shared the insight in its smartphone shipment report for Europe’s Q2 2023, wherein it revealed that the market hit its lowest since 2012. Counterpoint generally believes that 2023 smartphone shipments will be lower than in 2022, with the current data proving this is the path the European market will have this year. Despite this, Russia interestingly gained a 4% YoY increase in shipments this quarter, but the report said that this could be the result of the lower shipments in Q2 2022 due to sanctions and the departure of smartphone brands in the country.
According to the report, smartphone shipments in Europe dropped 12% YoY in the said period, resulting from the shipment falls of almost all brands except Chinese smartphone company realme. As noted by the report, the departure of Apple and Samsung in the Russian market allowed this growth. Chinese brand Honor also grew in the market by 9% YoY.
Meanwhile, Apple saw a 21% YoY decrease, while Samsung had an 8% YoY fall. Chinese brand Oppo, nonetheless, had the biggest hit at a 51% drop for Q2 2023 compared to its shipment performance in the same quarter last year. It is reportedly the effect of patent disputes being faced by the company. Xiaomi, another Chinese company, also experienced a decrease in shipments by 9%.
Despite all these falls, the report highlights a silver lining for Apple and Samsung. “The market is unlikely to make a full recovery this year and 2023 smartphone shipments are set to be lower than in 2022, marking consecutive decade-low shipments in both 2022 and 2023,” Counterpoint Associate Director Jan Stryjak said. “However, despite the low shipment volumes, upcoming iterations of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s foldables are likely to fare well, prompting a bump in sales volumes in the coming quarters.”
For Apple, this reflects previous reports about the company’s high expectations for the demand of its iPhone 15 models, which are set to be released in the coming weeks. According to supply analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will particularly focus on the iPhone 15 Pro Max sales, which will reportedly constitute 35% to 40% of the initial launch shipments of the new series. The analyst claimed the model will consume the highest share of the shipments, making it 10% to 20% higher than the iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments during the same period last year. The report points out that Apple is confident in the impact of the periscope camera system on the model, allowing it to zoom 6X optically and reach greater hardware-based zoom. The report underlines that the exclusivity of the feature in the iPhone 15 Pro Max makes it the “selling point” of the model.
