The global smartphone market continues to be on a decline with the third quarter of 2023 being at its lowest level in a decade. All of the top 5 brands are affected by this decline according to Counterpoint, but Apple is the least affected by this 2023 smartphone market slump.
While the top 5 smartphone brands remained the same since 2021, Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo suffered double-digit declines when comparing their sales for Q3 of 2023 to the same period in 2022.
Despite the weak consumer demand, which Counterpoint reports as “slower than expected” in recovery, Apple was able to soften the blow with the launch of its iPhone 15 series. While they are expensive, consumers are excited for the iPhone 15 series as Apple finally drops Lightning for USB-C, ending the era of exclusive cables for iPhones. There’s also a good demand for the iPhone 15 Pro series with its updated titanium frame and new periscope camera on the Pro Max version, which makes Apple a step closer to what premium flagship Android phones have to offer.
Despite this positive news for Apple with its sales, not everything is good news for the iPhone 15 series. There are reports of overheating with the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip, along with quality issues regarding the finish of its titanium frame. Another concerning issue is the integrity of its glass back panels, where the iPhone 15 Pro Max suffered from a shattered back panel after a bend test–while the same did not occur on the smaller iPhone 15 Pro model.
While Apple did address the overheating issue of the iPhone 15 Pro series with a software update, there’s also a concern regarding its sales in China. Bloomberg reports that iPhone 15 sales are actually 4.5% lower than iPhone 14 sales for the first 17 days and that Huawei managed to outsell Apple with the surprise launch of the Mate 60 Pro. Analysts estimate that Huawei can potentially sell as many as 6 million Mate 60 Pros this year–however, it is still not clear if Huawei has plans to make the Mate 60 Pro (or its other variants) available in other markets.
Despite the not-so-positive outlook in China, Apple is expected to improve its overall smartphone market sales towards the end of 2023 as more countries like the Philippines begin official sales of the iPhone 15.
