Given weakening sales in China, the Russia-Ukraine war and the rising inflation dampening consumer demand in Europe and emerging markets, DIGITIMES Research expects global smartphone shipments to decline for the first two quarters of 2022 from the levels seen in the corresponding period of 2021.
DIGITIMES Research, in February, projected a 3.1% growth for whole-year 2022 global smartphone shipments but has now adjusted the forecast to a 7.5% decline based on information from supply chain sources as leading smartphone brands have lowered their whole-year shipment goals several times in the past couple months.
For the China market, the COVID-19 pandemic containment measures made matters worse for already weak market demand. Smartphone shipments in China are therefore estimated to plunge 29.4% and 24.8% on year in the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively, with whole-year 2022 shipments expected to decline 19.4%.
Chart 2: Shipments by China and non-China markets, 1Q21-2Q22 (m units)
Table 1: Key factors affecting China and non-China smartphone shipments, 2022
Chart 5: Shipments in China and non-China markets, 2020-2022 (m units)
Chart 6: Annual shipments by top brands, 1H22 and 2022 (m units)
Chart 7: 5G smartphone shipments by China and non-China markets, 2021-2022 (m units)
