Smartphones declined for a third consecutive quarter, marking the worst Q3 since 2014. Only Apple showed positive growth of the top five vendors as the overall market dropped by 9% compared to a year earlier, according to Canalys.
Amid a gloomy economic outlook, consumers are delaying purchases of electronics, the analyst firm said. Demand shows no signs of improving through June of next year, said Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia.
IDC recently noted a similar trend with PCs, with Q3 marking the third straight quarter of declines and dropping by 15% over a year earlier.
RELATED: PC declines continue for third straight quarter after two years of growth
Smartphone vendors are trying to reduce the risk of inventory build-up with deteriorating demand, added Canalys Analyst Amber Liu. “Vendors had significant stockpiles going into July, but sell-through gradually improved from September owing to aggressive discounting and promotions,” Liu said. “The pricing strategy of new products is cautiously crafted, even for Apple, to avoid significant pushback from consumers who now tend to be very sensitive to any price hike.”
Samsung was again the top vendor, with 22% share of about 290 million smartphones shipped in Q3. Apple improved to 18%, up from 15% a year ago, while Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo rounded out the top five vendors at 14%, 10% and 9%.