Smartphone shipments down 10% on-yr in H1 despite Q2 recovery: IDC

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

smartphone market shipped 64 million units in the first half of 2023, a decline of 10% on-year, despite the second quarter sequentially outperforming with 34 million shipments, on account of an increased focus in clearing inventory by offering discounts, special schemes and price drops before the start of the festive season, according to a new report from IDC India. The research firm also noted a decline in average selling prices after several consecutive quarters of growth, with ASPs declining 8% sequentially to $241 in Q2.

However, average prices were still 13% higher than a year ago. «Consumers are opting for premium offerings, driven by easy and affordable financing options.

IDC expects this growth momentum to continue in the upcoming months in 2023,» said Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India. Declining ASPs however could not stop the ongoing slide in the share of the budget under-$200 segment which dipped 11% on-year to contribute 65% of shipments from 70% a year ago.

The premium segment was the fastest growing with 75% on-year growth in Q2 to capture 6% of the market, even as the mid-range segment remained flat with 22% share and the high-end segment growing 34% on-year to capture 5% of the market. The premium and high-end segment growth was fueled by 17 million 5G smartphone shipments where the average selling prices tell 3% sequentially to $366 in Q2, as per IDC, with Samsung, Vivo, and OnePlus cornering 54% of 5G shipments among themselves.

However, the iPhone 13 along with the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite were the highest selling 5G smartphones in the second quarter. Poco was the fastest growing smartphone brand in the second quarter with 76.5% on-year growth driven by its affordable C-series