Global Smartphone Shipments Forecasted to Hit Decade Low as Apple Nears Top Spot [Report]

Global smartphone shipments could decline to a decade low in 2023 with forecasts down 6% to 1.15 billion units, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research.

The analysts note that economic hurdles in Asia and North America have made customers hesitant to upgrade devices.

"There's been a decoupling between what's happening in the economy and consumers buying phones. So far this year it's been record low upgrades across all carriers," says Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director for North America. "But we're watching Q4 with interest because the iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers. And with that big iPhone 12 installed base up for grabs promos are going to be aggressive, leaving Apple in a good spot."


In China, "Apple is well positioned as the premium segment continues to gain more share." states Ethan Qi, Associate Director for China.

Apple has a smartphone portfolio heavily weighted to premium and ultra-premium devices. Counterpoint believes this could help it become number one in terms of smartphone shipments this year.

"It's the closest Apple's been to the top spot. We're talking about a spread that's literally a few days' worth of sales," muses Fieldhack. "Assuming Apple doesn't run into production problems like it did last year, it's really a toss up at this point."

Notably, a report from yesterday claims Apple has run into both supply and demand issues, resulting in a lower build plan than expected for 2H23. Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for more iPhone updates.