2022 was a terrible year for the smartphone industry (and 2023 will be no better)

2022 has been a disastrous year for the smartphone industry. The entire sector closed the last quarter of 2022 with a 17% year-on-year collapse. Overall, the market has lost 11% compared to 2021. “It has been an extremely difficult year for all producers”, summarize the Canalys analysts.

The trend born in 2020 and which was inevitably accentuated by the pandemic and the challenges of geopolitics continues. Those set out in the Canalys report are the lowest numbers of the last decade. “To find numbers lower than these we have to go back to 2023.”

Canalys explains that the vertical collapse in demand for entry-level and mid-range smartphones continued without interruption throughout 2022, while demand for new top-of-the-range smartphones only began to show signs of weakness towards the end of the year .

The bad news didn’t end there. Analysts expect the suffering of the sector to continue throughout 2023. If there is growth on an annual basis – warns Canalys – it will be modest or even marginal.

The challenges we witnessed in 2021-2022 will be compounded by other chronic difficulties, including a rise in the unemployment rate and rate cuts to deal with inflation. These difficulties should further cripple sales in the USA and Europe, while a small recovery is expected in China (due to the end of the zero covid policy).