New Delhi: Global smartphone shipments fell 6 per cent in the third quarter (July-September period) while Apple regained second place in the market with 15 per cent share in the third quarter (Q3) this year, a new report showed on Friday.
While Xiaomi slipped to third place taking 14 per cent market share, Samsung is the leading smartphone player with a 23 per cent share. According to preliminary data provided by global market research firm Canalys Vivo and OPPO completed the top five with 10 per cent share each,
Reports also suggest that vendors are struggling to meet the demand for devices amid component shortages.
"The chipset famine has truly arrived. The smartphone industry is striving to maximise production of devices as best it can. On the supply side, chipset manufacturers are increasing prices to disincentivize over-ordering, in an attempt to close the gap between demand and supply," Canalys Principal Analyst, Ben Stanton quoted as saying.
Despite this, "shortages will not ease until well into 2022. As a result of this, as well as high costs of global freight, smartphone brands have reluctantly pushed up device retail pricing", Stanton stated.
"At the local level, smartphone vendors are also having to implement last-minute changes in device specification and order quantities. It is critical for them to do this and maximise volume capacity, but unfortunately it does lead to confusion and inefficiency when communicating with retail and distributor channels," he added.
Many channels are nervous heading into important sales holidays, such as Singles' Day in China, and Black Friday in the west.
"Channel inventories of smartphones are already running low, and as more customers start to anticipate these sales cycles, the impending wave of demand will be impossible to fulfill," Stanton added.
Customers should expect smartphone discounting this year to be less aggressive.
"But to avoid customer disappointment, smartphone brands which are constrained on margin should look to bundle other devices, such as wearables and IoT, to create good incentives for customers," Stanton said.