I strongly suspect, at least half of that is down to supply issues
Worldwide smartphone shipments suffered their worst quarterly drop on record over the holiday period, according to IDC, and Apple was not immune to the cooling consumer demand amid the global economic downturn.
The research firm estimates that Apple shipped 72.3 million iPhones in the December quarter, down year-on-year from 85 million units, representing a 14.9% drop in shipments compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Other major smartphone brands suffered similar double-digit setbacks. Samsung's shipments fell by 15.6% year-on-year, and Chinese mobile makers OPPO and vivo suffered almost equivalent declines, with Xiaomi performing worst over the quarter with a 26.3% drop in shipments.
Overall, global smartphone shipments declined 18.3% in the December quarter compared to a year earlier, to a little over 300 million units. The drop marks the largest-ever decline in a single quarter and contributed to a steep 11.3% decline for the year.
"We have never seen shipments in the holiday quarter come in lower," Nabila Popal, research director at IDC, said in a press release. "However, weakened demand and high inventory caused vendors to cut back drastically on shipments."
In addition to inflation and economic uncertainties, lockdowns in China were another factor that hurt the industry, including Apple's iPhone shipments, she said. "Heavy sales and promotions during the quarter helped deplete existing inventory rather than drive shipment growth."
Riots broke out in late November at the world's largest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, where Foxconn workers were unhappy with Covid restrictions and unpaid bonuses. iPhone production at the factory in Zhengzhou was said to have been significantly affected by the protests, leading to lengthy shipping delays over the holiday period.
According to IDC, 2022 ended with global smartphone shipments of 1.21 billion units, which represents the lowest annual shipment total since 2013 due to significantly dampened consumer demand, inflation, and economic uncertainties.
Despite the difficult holiday period, Apple's market share remained steady, and the company maintained its position as the top smartphone maker for the December quarter with 24.1% market share, up 1% from a year ago. For the year, Apple reached 18.8% market share compared to 17.3% the previous year, coming second only to Samsung, which took 21.6% market share in 2022 compared to 20% over 2021, according to IDC estimates.
Article Link: iPhone Shipments Suffered Double-Digit Drop Over Holiday Quarter, Says IDC
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iPhone Shipments Suffered Double-Digit Drop Over Holiday Quarter, Says IDC
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This isn’t surprising at all. Yes the economic downturn plays a big role in this but also, most phone upgrades are marginal at best.
Smartphones are already so good you really don’t need an upgrade unless they’re broken or way to old to function.
Smartphones are already so good you really don’t need an upgrade unless they’re broken or way to old to function.
75 million phones. That’s just crazy. And in a not so huge feature packed year. Businesses dream of numbers like these. And at $1000 a pop average, close to a billion dollars. It will be interesting to see what happens for the next fall. With inflation on the rise and people with less disposable income, terrible trade-in values, i can’t imagine the number going up.
On a slightly related note, kind of crazy to think how many iPhones have been created and are still out in the world or trash heap. Makes you wonder when it stops.
On a slightly related note, kind of crazy to think how many iPhones have been created and are still out in the world or trash heap. Makes you wonder when it stops.
It was all due to the lack of a usb-c port.
I’ve had it. I won’t buy another car either until they add a usb-c gas port to it. I’m tired of the slow filling.
I’ve had it. I won’t buy another car either until they add a usb-c gas port to it. I’m tired of the slow filling.
An excellent and thoughtful post.
But no forum cred for you today! Much better to moan about what Apple is doing wrong.
And Apple wants to raise prices by $200 or more dollars for the next iPhone 15 pros? Ha! They better rethink that.
Yes because it’s better and more resilient than the alternatives.
On a percentage basis Apple had the smallest drop, but on a unit basis, Apple had the biggest drop, excluding the “others”.
Apple should bring back a full fledge 650 US$ iPhone, the stock buyback is that is inflating the stock price
You are a poor financial adviser. After 5 years, the iPhone is worth nothing. You lose all value. Changing every two years means less money spent.
Sales dropped but sales dropped across the board. The reality is that Apple actually increased its market share. Soooo.... some people are upset Apple didn't increase its market share even more?
Marketing isn’t necessarily trying to push people to get new phones every year. Marketing is trying to push people to iPhones in general whether they have a one year old iPhone, a six year old iPhone, an Android or whatever.
They don’t though. They want more uptake on the pro. Which is a good reason to have a small price differential.
Unfortunately for Apple, this time around it seems as if it simply meant a lower sales of the non pro. In terms of revenue that may be less of a loss than the volume numbers imply because of the shift in product balance towards the pro, but as has been pointed out already, lower sales number of iOS devices also lead to lower follow up sales of services. Also, Apple don’t really want people to start questioning their purchase patterns. Once changed, they may not change back.
This was the first upgrade cycle I did not get a new iPhone, and I've had the newest model annually since the iPhone 3G. The best iPhone in my opinion was the 11 Pro Max. My subsequent 12 + 13 Pros have felt no different, but with lesser battery life.
I don't think I'll upgrade (unless absolutely necessary) until Apple can at least put out a camera that compares to larger sensors on point-and-shoots. Three tiny lenses are becoming increasingly worthless.
I upgraded to the 14PM this year. Awesome upgrade, best iPhone ever. Think I’ll ride out the iPhone 15 and go for the iPhone 16.
Yeah, turns out it’s a combo of a lot of things, and not simply one single reason. Lower consumer demand for expensive items overall, but also no real differentiation from prior models. You’ll notice that in the 2009 recession smartphone demand was still strong because yearly changes were significant. Even considering production supply line issues, demand didn’t rebound when those issues relieved. And right now there’s nothing stopping anyone from buying an iPhone same-day, so demand wasn’t pent up to compensate for production issues. So yeah - it’s a combo of a lot of things.
I was on the 2 year S upgrade cycle for a long time, but I’m sticking with my 12 mini for a bit longer - partly because I see no real benefit from the 14 (or the rumored 15), and partly because there’s no longer a mini in the lineup and I prefer the dimensions of a smaller phone that fits into my pocket. Will USB C be the differentiator I care about? Doubtful. Will an improving global economy change my outlook on my technological needs? Also doubtful. My likely path right now is to just get a new battery when the 15 Drops and keep plugging away until there’s something meaningfully additive. But I’m one case, so who knows.
I was on the 2 year S upgrade cycle for a long time, but I’m sticking with my 12 mini for a bit longer - partly because I see no real benefit from the 14 (or the rumored 15), and partly because there’s no longer a mini in the lineup and I prefer the dimensions of a smaller phone that fits into my pocket. Will USB C be the differentiator I care about? Doubtful. Will an improving global economy change my outlook on my technological needs? Also doubtful. My likely path right now is to just get a new battery when the 15 Drops and keep plugging away until there’s something meaningfully additive. But I’m one case, so who knows.
Well, Q4 2022 I provided to the chart by getting my first iPhone (13 mini), though I'll be honest, I am the user that will ride it out and milk the mini for years, as I really like the small form factor and am incompatible with the rush to bigger phones...