Europe Smartphone Market Archives - Gizmochina

Apple Overtakes Samsung in the EU Smartphone Market to Grab Top Spot

Anubhav — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 15:17:50 +0000

The tides have turned in the European smartphone market as Apple clinched the top spot, edging out Samsung after a prolonged game of cat and mouse. The holiday quarter of 2023 marked an important moment for Apple, as it saw a modest year-on-year growth, shipping 12.4 million units. This achievement ended a streak of seven quarters where Samsung led the pack.

Apple shipped 12.4 million smartphone units in the holiday quarter of 2023

This shift at the top is not just a story of Apple’s success but also reflects broader market dynamics. Overall, smartphone shipments in Europe dipped by 3% to 37.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2023. Samsung, despite facing a 12% decline to 10.8 million units, managed to hold its ground, thanks in part to its robust S-series and mid-range A-series.

The competition doesn’t end there. Xiaomi, Motorola, and Honor also made their presence felt, with Motorola and Honor posting remarkable year-on-year growth rates of 73% and 116%, respectively. Yet, it was Apple’s high-end models, especially the iPhone 15 Pro, that captured nearly 40% of the market, a record share for premium smartphones in Europe.

Analysts point to a growing trend towards high-end devices and note Apple’s strategic moves to capitalize on upcoming refresh cycles. Collaborations with financial institutions like Santander in Spain are part of Apple’s strategy to widen its market reach. With predictions of single-digit growth for the European smartphone market in 2024, the emphasis is increasingly on enhancing user experience through on-device AI, personalization, and seamless ecosystem integration.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and Xiaomi’s Recovery Highlight of Europe Smartphone Market Survey

Anubhav — Fri, 26 May 2023 04:38:33 +0000

The challenging economic climate continues to cast a shadow over the European smartphone market, as evidenced by the latest research from Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service. The data reveals a significant 23% year-on-year decline in smartphone shipments in Q1 2023, painting a bleak picture for the industry. Factors such as inflation, high-interest rates, soaring energy prices, and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine have contributed to the cautious approach consumers are adopting towards discretionary spending. These circumstances have resulted in Q1 2023 marking the lowest quarterly total for smartphone shipments in Europe since Q2 2012.

Apple’s decline was less severe than its market competitors

Jan Stryjak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, addressed the situation, stating, “The cost-of-living crisis has continued to inflict misery upon European consumers, making the start of 2023 exceptionally challenging. Nonetheless, there have been some positive developments within the market. Despite losing market share compared to the same period in 2022, Samsung managed to maintain its leadership position by successfully launching its latest flagship Galaxy S23 series, which outperformed both the S22 and S21 models. Apple, on the other hand, gained a slight increase in market share year-on-year, although this was primarily due to its decline being less severe than that of its competitors. However, the standout performer in this difficult climate was Xiaomi, being the only major vendor to experience year-on-year growth, bouncing back from a lackluster Q1 2022.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2023, Stryjak expressed cautious optimism. He remarked, “We had predicted that the prevailing conditions would worsen before showing signs of improvement, and unfortunately, Q1 2023 proved us right, marking the worst quarter for smartphone shipments in Europe in over a decade. Nevertheless, we maintain an optimistic outlook that the economic pressures will gradually ease in the coming quarters, leading to a boost in consumer confidence. We anticipate a more positive end to the year, which should be reflected in the performance of the European smartphone market.”

Despite the current difficulties, market players and consumers alike are hopeful that the European smartphone market will regain its momentum as economic conditions stabilize. The launch of innovative and feature-rich flagship devices, such as Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series, will likely play a pivotal role in enticing consumers back into the market. Moreover, the resilience displayed by Xiaomi in its recovery from a lackluster Q1 2022 serves as an encouraging example for other vendors. While challenges persist, the European smartphone market remains poised for a potential resurgence in the near future.

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[Update: Statement] OnePlus & OPPO to Stay in EU Markets At Least Until the End of 2023

Anubhav — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 04:18:23 +0000

Update:

Here’s an official statement from OnePlus regarding this story.

OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets and the UK. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward.

Chinese smartphones have the highest sale numbers in the Asian subcontinent as compared to the rest of the world, and that’s a fact. OPPO and OnePlus are among the leading mobile technology brands in China, offering a range of impressive products that rival those of Apple and Samsung in the US and South Korea. However, recent doubts have been cast over their future in international markets, particularly in Europe.

The leak from Max Jambor, who has a reliable track record in the tech industry, suggested that OPPO and OnePlus would be pulling out of the European market, starting with Germany, UK, France, and the Netherlands. This caused concern among customers and tech enthusiasts alike. Fortunately, an official spokesperson for OnePlus has released a statement clarifying that both companies remain committed to their existing European markets, including the UK. The successful launches of several products in early 2023, such as the OPPO Find N2 Flip and OnePlus 11, demonstrate their continued interest in this region. Moreover, they have a line-up of upcoming products scheduled for release later this year.

While this statement may refute Max Jambor’s claims, it is still unclear what OPPO and OnePlus plan to do beyond 2023. It should be noted that the OnePlus 11 did not launch in Germany due to an ongoing patent dispute, but this does not indicate a total abandonment of the European market by OnePlus. Although the EU and UK markets may not be as significant as the US market, it is unlikely that any major tech company would leave them without a good reason. Whether OPPO and OnePlus have such reasons for considering a pullout will become clearer over time. Until then, interested consumers can freely purchase OPPO and OnePlus devices from European Markets.

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Apple & Samsung see growth in Europe smartphone market despite overall decline

Sean — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 10:52:27 +0000

We had recently reported on the global smartphone market seeing a slight decline this year. However, this fall is still meager compared to the European region, which saw a greater decline. But it isn’t all bad news as Samsung and Apple still managed to see growth.

For those unaware, the global smartphone market dropped by around 3 percent. However, according to a Counterpoint Research report, the European smartphone market saw a substantial 11 percent decline in the second quarter and 13 percent fall in the first quarter of this year. During the months between April and June, the region only saw 40 million smartphone shipments.

While the Coronavirus pandemic is still a factor that affected the declining smartphone market, but another major influence was undoubtedly the Russian invasion to the Ukraine. At the same time, a fear of recession also grips the market, with many countries contributing to the falling demand as mobile devices are launching for higher prices. But despite all of this, the South Korean and Cupertino based giant still managed to see a positive trend in the second quarter of 2022.

However, its not all good news for both brands as Samsung and Apple sold fewer smartphones in Europe in Q2 2022 compared to the Q1 2022. Following these two tech giants is the Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi. The company did manage to see growth as well during this period. Although, the same was not reflected on Oppo and Realme, which took the fourth and fifth place respectively. Both of these Chinese companies also saw a decline similar to the overall European region.

Samsung tops Europe smartphone market in 2021, while Realme sees impressive growth

Sean — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 12:19:34 +0000

We had recently reported on Samsung taking the throne in the LATAM (Latin American) smartphone market. And now, a new report has revealed that the brand has even topped the handset market in Europe in 2021.

According to a Strategy Analytics report, the South Korean tech giant continued to dominate the region, while Apple took the second spot. Although, Realme made an impressive entry into the market’s top 5 spots and saw a whopping 500 percent growth as well. This made it the fastest growing brand in the Europe for the year 2021. During this same period, Samsung retained its throne with a sizeable 29 percent market share in Europe. While the company was still No. 1 in the region, it saw a decline of 1 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, Apple saw an 11 percent growth year on year, with its market share being 23 percent last year. The third place was taken by the Chinese smartphone brand, Xiaomi, which had a 20 percent market share, but saw an noticeable 33 percent growth year on year in 2021. The fourth place went to Oppo, which had a meager 5 percent market share in 2021 but saw a 77 percent growth over the previous year.

Thus, Realme had the most impressive performance in terms of just growth. It had an even smaller 3 percent market share but was able to take the fifth spot thanks to its 500 percent growth over 2020. The company has seen similar growth rates in other regions as well. Strategy Analytics believes that its aggressive pricing and diverse portfolio helped it grow at such a high pace.

OPPO, realme, and vivo record triple digit YoY growth in Europe, defying chip shortage

Zohaib Ahmed — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 09:43:08 +0000

Europe’s smartphone market has mostly recovered from the effects of the pandemic but is held back from the chip shortage now. Q3 2021 phone sales were thus overall 1% lower compared to the same period last year.

Image: Counterpoint Research

Not every brand was equally affected though. It’s the Chinese smartphone brands, particularly the subsidiaries of BBK Electronics, that have outshone the rest (via Counterpoint Research). vivo, realme, and OPPO have each recorded triple-digit growth in Q3 2021 vs Q3 2020 with figures of 238%, 160%, and 112% respectively in Europe. These three have also gained in terms of market share with OPPO jumping from 4.7% to 10.1%, realme from 0.9% to 2.4%, and vivo from 0.5% to 1.8%. OPPO has gained hugely with the merger with OnePlus.

OnePlus 9RT arrived with ColorOS following OPPO merger

However, the market share of these three is rather tiny in the continent, which explains the triple-digit figures. The big players have continued to be Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple. Although, Samsung’s market share has declined from 35.8% to 30.4%. Xiaomi and Apple on the other hand recorded 51% and 24% growth respectively.

Counterpoint Research Associate Director Jan Stryjak said, “realme is one of the fastest growing brands in Europe and has firmly established itself as a top-five vendor with strong sales in Russia, Spain, and Italy. vivo is also growing fast, albeit from a smaller base, while Motorola and Nokia are staging a comeback. HONOR also has set sights on the European market in the hopes of a reversal of fortunes with its first major launch in the region in over a year in October.”

But when it comes to QoQ figures for growth in terms of sales, Xiaomi and Samsung have suffered declines of 6% each. Samsung could have been hit even worse had it not been for the success of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 particularly in Western Europe. Apple has seen a respectable 5% growth, on the other hand, boosted by the launch of the iPhone 13 towards the end of the quarter.

Image: Counterpoint Research

Xiaomi and Apple had a mixed quarter at the end of the quarter. Xiaomi suffered a major setback in September 2021 as a result of significant component constraints. Apple’s iPhone 13 launch was a huge success. Despite going on sale at the end of September, the iPhone 13 seemed to be more popular than the iPhone 12 from the previous year. Apple could have a record-breaking Q4 in Europe if it can keep up with demand – a difficulty in some markets.

Xiaomi leads European smartphone shipments for the first time in Q2 2021: Report

Sean — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 08:30:09 +0000

Xiaomi has reached the top spot in smartphone shipments in Europe for the first time ever. The company lead the market in the second quarter of this year, with its market share hitting 25 percent of the total shipments.

According to a StrategyAnalytics report, the Chinese tech giant saw a year on year growth of 14 percent in Q2 2021. During this quarter, the company shipped a total of 50 million units. The report added that the smartphone market’s recovery driven and the recovery of the economy also enabled healthy demand from consumers with aging devices, along with growing appeal for newer handsets that support 5G networking.

Boris Metodiev, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics stated that, “The European markets for smartphones had a strong quarter driven by Covid recovery, following the crash in 2020. The highlight of the quarter is Xiaomi emerging as the number one vendor in shipment terms for the first time. Xiaomi shipped almost 13 million units on the continent to displace longtime leader Samsung. Xiaomi has seen great success in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy among others and found customers eager for its Mi and Redmi series of feature rich, value smartphones.”

While the Chinese brand saw growth during this period, South Korean tech giant Samsung saw a year on year decline of 7 percent in Europe, with 12 million units shipped in Q2. Furthermore, it also faced stiff competition with Apple in the high end market, meanwhile, it also failed to take advantage of Huawei‘s decline in the region. The Cupertino based giant, on the other hand, saw a 16 percent year on year growth in this time, shipping 10 million units in Europe.

Smartphone market plummets by 14% in Europe in 2020, Xiaomi gains the most and realme grows 420% YoY in Q4

Balaji S — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:34:47 +0000

Xiaomi began the year 2020 by growing about 145% YoY in Europe. Cut back to 2021, a report by Counterpoint Research says that the company gained the most as the European market plummeted overall last year. realme was the fastest-growing brand in Europe with a ten-fold increase in sales.

According to the report, the European market plummeted overall by 14% in 2020 as compared to the year before. The market was worst affected by the COVID-19 as the disease first hit in April and came back in September to haunt the region. Among giants like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi benefited the most in Europe.

Although Samsung was the top vendor in Europe in Q3 as per Canalys, the report says that Xiaomi managed to outsmart Samsung by growing about 90% annually. Speaking of which, Samsung reportedly didn’t manage to grab the void left by Huawei to a greater extent.

The company’s mid-rangers like Galaxy A51, and A71, and rivals’ Redmi Note 9 Pro outsold its flagships in early 2020. And amongst an army of Chinese companies rising in the region, Apple’s arrival in Q3 with iPhone 12 meant its game got spoilt more. With Galaxy S21, prospects are good for the Korean giant in 2021 but it has a lot of work to do.

Huawei’s market share dropped to 5% by December and the tussle with the US really affected them. As for the other Chinese brands, thanks to carrier partnerships OPPO grew as big as 68% in Q4. realme, on the other hand, saw a whopping 420% YoY growth in Q4 and remained the fastest-growing brand.

Last but not the least, despite getting a sluggish start, Apple had its budget iPhone SE pickup the sales in 2020. Later in the year, it launched the iPhone 12 devices and got a huge reception. In fact, the report says that the 2020 flagships helped Apple gain a whopping 30% of share in Q4.

Moving into 2021, Research Analyst, Ankit Malhotra says that the market is craving for 5G devices. As a result, sales of Galaxy S21, iPhone 12 along with those from Chinese vendors should help drive the market in Q1 2021.