Canalys: Apple won the market share game in Q4 2022, Samsung took the whole year

Canalys came out today with its joint report focusing on both smartphone stock numbers for the fourth quarter of last year (October through December), as well as performance over the full year. Overall, the picture is pretty bleak for handset vendors. The market was down 17% in the fourth quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. Full-year shipments were down 11%, to less than 1.2 billion.

Apple won the market share game in the fourth quarter, as it usually does, influenced by the launch of its new iPhones, but this time it recorded its highest market share ever: 25%. Samsung is second with 20%, Xiaomi third with 11%, Oppo fourth with 10% and vivo fifth with 8% of the market, while the “Other” category accounts for 26% of sales.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, Apple’s share increased by 2%, that of Samsung and Oppo by 1%, that of vivo remained the same and that of Xiaomi fell by 2%. Xiaomi’s decline is apparently “largely due to challenges in India”.

Over the full year, Samsung leads with 22% of the market, followed by Apple with 19% and Xiaomi with 13%. Oppo and vivo both held 9% market share. Compared to 2021, Samsung and Apple gained 2 percentage points in share, Oppo lost 2%, while Xiaomi and vivo were down 1%.

For 2023, Canalys forecasts predict “stable to marginal growth” for the entire market. Analyst Le Xuan Chiew said sellers would approach the year cautiously, prioritizing profitability and protecting market share, cutting costs “to adjust to the new market reality.”

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