Worldwide smartphone shipments fell 6.7% year-on-year

IDC has released a report on smartphone shipments for the third quarter of 2021. Smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2021 were 331.2 million units, a decrease of 6.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Smartphone shipments declined in large areas in the third quarter of 2021. In particular, in Central and Eastern European countries, it decreased by 23.2% compared to the same period last year, and in the Asia-Pacific region excluding China and Japan, it decreased by 11.6% compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, in China, Western Europe, and the United States, where manufacturers ship smartphones first, the number of shipments decreased by only 4.4%, 4.6%, and 0.2% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Looking at the number of shipments and market share by manufacturer, Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 manufacturer, shipped 69 million units in the third quarter of 2021, taking a 20.8% market share, but the number of shipments decreased by 14.2% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Apple, in second place, shipped 50.4 million units in the third quarter of 2021, exceeding 41.7 million units in the previous year by 20.8%, with a market share of 15.2%. After that, the total shipments were 332.1 million units following Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo, a decrease of 6.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.

As for the cause of the decline in smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2021, IDC pointed out that supply chain and component shortages are finally having a serious impact on the smartphone market. He said it was not a shortage, but merely limited growth, but now the problem is getting worse, he said, with the shortage of parts having a similar effect on all suppliers.

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It is said that there are two reasons for the shortage of parts in the smartphone industry: limitations in manufacturing capacity in factories and challenges in transportation capacity. In China, power supply restrictions have been implemented in a wide range of regions since September, and factories are also forced to suspend operations. In addition, delays in transportation due to stricter inspection and censorship due to the spread of COVID-19 are also affecting smartphone manufacturing.

Experts predicted that smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2021 would decrease by 2.9% compared to the same period of the previous year, but the actual decrease was more than doubled to 6.7%. All major vendors are lowering their fourth-quarter production targets, predicting supply-side problems will not subside until 2022 as demand continues to be strong. Related information can be found here.