A new report from
Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service shows European smartphone shipments dropping by 12% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. That’s the lowest Q1 total since 2013.
Just 49 million smartphones were shipped in Europe in Q1 2022. Samsung led with a market share of 35%, followed by Apple (25%), Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO (14%), OPPO/OnePlus (6%) and realme (4%). Realme was the only top 5 company to increase its year-on-year market share.
Counterpoint Research says the decline in shipments was caused by factors including component shortages, COVID-19 related lockdowns in China, deteriorating economic conditions and the war in Ukraine.
Jan Stryjak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, said "Existing issues such as COVID-19 and component shortages have been exacerbated by new economic and geopolitical challenges. Rising inflation levels across the region are impacting consumer spending, while Samsung and Apple, Russia’s first and third ranked smartphone vendors, halted all shipments into Europe’s largest market in early March 2022."
The company expects European smartphone shipments to decline year-on-year for the next few quarters as the cost of living increases across the region and the full impact of Samsung and Apple’s withdrawal from Russia is felt.
Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to fall 3% year-on-year in 2022 to 1.36 billion units, according to a Counterpoint Research forecast.