Zhitong Finance APP learned that according to Canalys research data, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the mobile phone market in mainland China will still operate at a low level, with overall shipments of 74.4 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14%. Among them, Apple (AAPL.US) fell 24% year-on-year due to the release rhythm and the continuity of Zhengzhou Foxconn production, but it still relied on the release of the iPhone 14 series to ship 16.4 million units, ranking first. Competed by Apple’s peak season, vivo ranked second with a 17% market share and shipped 12.7 million units. OPPO (including OnePlus) shipped 12.5 million units, ranking third, maintaining its performance in the third quarter. Honor shipped 12.2 million units, dropping to fourth place in terms of shipments. Xiaomi shipped 8.5 million units, maintaining its fifth position.
In 2022, China’s smartphone shipments will drop by 14% year-on-year to 287 million units, which is the first time in the past ten years that it has fallen below 300 million units. Vivo won the annual shipment crown, and only Honor and Apple achieved annual growth of 30% and 4%, ranking second and third in the market respectively. High-end consumers have shown some resilience in the economic turmoil, coupled with Apple’s price reduction promotion strategy, its annual market share reached a record high of 18%.
“Affected by the continued sluggish demand, the performance of the Chinese market in the fourth quarter was not satisfactory, and the overall market shipments for the whole year have fallen to a new low since 2013.” said Canalys research analyst Zhong Xiaolei (Lucas Zhong) “Continued strict anti-epidemic policies have led to conservative consumer spending and record growth in household savings. The consumer confidence index in October and November remained at a low level since April this year. During the traditional double 11 sales season , no clear signs of a boost were observed on the demand side.”
“Excessive inventory level is one of the problems that manufacturers are trying to solve this year. Through the promotion season in the fourth quarter, most manufacturers have further eased their inventory pressure and controlled the inventory level at a normal level. Manufacturers have also begun to Slow down the expansion of its offline channels and pursue a stable channel layout.” Canalys research analyst Zhong Xiaolei (Lucas Zhong) added, “At the same time, Chinese manufacturers still insist on advancing the exploration in the high-end and ecological fields. Continue to update the imaging flagship product line that uses Leica imaging and IMX989. OPPO iterated its Find N folding series and launched the top and bottom folding products for the first time. Honor released MagicOS 7.0 and MagicRing trust ring, intending to create an ecological moat through smart interconnection experience.”
Canalys analyst Amber Liu said, “In 2022, due to the impact of macro factors, consumer spending tends to be conservative, especially affecting the demand for low-end and mid-range. Therefore, manufacturers are still cautious about their market plans for 2023. For example, Honor has experienced The rapid growth in 2022 will rely on Magic OS to develop IoT products this year, rather than aggressively pursuing shipment growth and offline channel expansion. OPPO will adopt a steady trading strategy in 2023 in order to smoothly transition through the market adjustment period and continue to expand The scope of application of the three major technology bases. The anti-epidemic policy released in December will bring benefits to the market in 2023, but the stimulus effect on the economy and demand may take 6-12 months to gradually manifest, so the recovery of the Chinese market still remains It will take time. From a mid- to long-term perspective, we expect the supply chain to regain its stability in 2023 with the liberalization of prevention and control policies, and the overall market performance is also expected to grow slightly year-on-year with the recovery of economic activities.”