The first quarter was the worst first quarter for smartphone shipments in Europe since 2013, based on data from Research on counterpoint. In the second quarter, the market fell 13% compared to the first quarter for a total of 40.3 million units shipped, the worst second quarter since 2020.
Compared to the second quarter of last year, the market is down 11%, but this does not provide a complete picture of the interesting dynamics taking place. War, the shaky economy, and the resurgence of COVID-19 have hampered all smartphone manufacturers.
Quarterly shipments of smartphones in Europe and change compared to the second quarter of 2021 (source: Counterpoint)
At first glance, Samsung and Apple did well – their shipments and market share increased over the same period last year. However, they both showed a sharp decline from the first quarter of this year.
In Samsung’s case, the second quarter of 2021 was the weakest quarter in over a decade since the company was struggling with closures of its Vietnamese factories. This makes the numbers for this Q2 less impressive. There was another factor at play: Samsung withdrew from Russia, which led to a drop in shipments compared to the first three months of this year.
The same goes for Apple, second Counterpoint. Shipments have increased on the back of the popular iPhone SE (2022), but total shipments have not been as high as they could have been since Apple withdrew from the Russian market.
Top 5 smartphone manufacturers in Europe by market share, Q2 2021 vs Q2 2022 (source: Counterpoint)
Xiaomi experienced the opposite of Samsung’s situation. Q2 2021 as the best quarter ever on the European market, Q2 2022 not so much. However, the company benefited from Samsung and Apple’s withdrawal from Russia, which allowed it to ship more units.
Oppo and Realme complete the Top 5 and have also had opposite fates. Oppo has been hit hard by supply and manufacturing problems in China, while Realme has seen double-digit growth year-on-year.
“Unfortunately, the situation in Europe remains gloomy. Many countries in Europe are approaching recession and internal political tensions in numerous countries besides Russia and Ukraine are increasing, for example in France, Germany and the UK. We remain confident, however, that the bottom has been reached and the trajectory should soon rise again, but the recovery is likely to be long and slow. “ said Jan Stryjak, associate director of Counterpoint Research.
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