The best Samsung phones have certainly helped the company retain its lead in an otherwise lacklustre global smartphone market. Research firm Canalys reports that global smartphone shipments are down 11% in Q1 2022 due to an overall unfavorable economic climate and slow demand.
Despite that, Samsung was able to increase its market share this past quarter compared to the same period last year. Its market share is actually up 5% from Q4 2021, highlighting impressive growth in the first few months of this year.
Samsung still remain on top of the global smartphone market
The business environment was challenging in Q1 for a variety of reasons. The surge of the Omicron variant, rolling lockdowns in China, the fallout from the Russia – Ukraine crisis and traditionally slow seasonal demand all contributed to the fall in global smartphone shipments.
Samsung led the market in Q1 2022 with a 24% market share, up from 22% in Q1 2021. The company's revamped smartphone portfolio enabled it to remain competitive in a challenging market. The Galaxy S21 FE was among the first new devices that Samsung launched in 2022. The company followed it up with the Galaxy S22 series. It has also made aggressive improvements to the Galaxy A series to further enhance its competitiveness.
The situation remains difficult for many of Samsung's rivals based in China. They continue to suffer from supply constraints for devices in the low-end of the price segment. This is putting pressure on their global expansion plans as they try to deal with the slowdown in their home market.
As you'd expect, Apple came in second place with 18% of the market in Q1 2022. The company saw sustained demand for the iPhone SE which has since become a key volume driver for Apple. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo complete the top five list.
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