Canalys, an audit and analysis firm specializing in various technology markets, has published a report on the smartphone market in Europe for the first quarter of 2022. Unsurprisingly, the war in Ukraine has had a very strong impact on it since smartphone sales fell by 10% compared to the first quarter of 2021.
A drop in the smartphone market in Europe due to the war in Ukraine
This figure is consistent with that of the world market, where sales fell by 11% over the same period. This decline is mainly due to the sharp decline in the smartphone markets in Ukraine and Russia, which saw a drop in sales of 51% for one and 31% for the other.
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Runar Bjorhovde, research analyst for Canalys, provided his expertise on the subject: “ the war in Ukraine has brought inflation to a record level which is creating a loss of consumer confidence. For the smartphone market, the real test will come in the next two quarters, when the economic impact of the conflict will really start to be felt. “. Without these results at half mast, the European smartphone market would have declined by only 3.5%.
The worldwide smartphone market still impacted by Covid-19 and the shortage of electronic components
With the increase in Covid-19 cases in 2021 (due to the Omicron variant), and despite the drastic drop in hospitalizations and the increase in vaccination, the global smartphone market is struggling to return to its previous threshold pandemic. Added to that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, lower demand and the still raging shortage of semiconductors, that’s a lot for suppliers who hadn’t necessarily anticipated all these problems.
” Despite all the threats hanging over the global smartphone market, the main suppliers have accelerated their growth by expanding their range of devices for 2022 explains Sanyam Chaurasia, analyst for Canalys. However, this strategy does not seem to be paying off for Apple. The company has cut production of its new iPhone SE 5G by 20%. For its part, Samsung managed to achieve record sales at the end of 2021, but was driven by its production and sales of semiconductors.
Estimated smartphone sales in Europe by manufacturer for the first quarter of 2022. Screenshot: Canalys.
With 24% market share, Samsung is the leader in smartphone sales in the world, but also in Europe, with 35%. Apple also scores well in Europe and sees its market share increase slightly (21%). The apple brand overtakes Xiaomi, the Chinese manufacturer thanks to the iPhone 13. For its part, Xiaomi’s competitor, realme, makes its sensational entry into the top 5 of the European market with a jump of 177%, unlike Oppo, whose sales in Europe fell drastically (-12%).