Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2023 shows iPhones at an Apple store in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province. On the same day, data released by TechInsights showed that Apple’s iPhone sales in China surpassed the United States for the first time in the second quarter of 2023, becoming the largest single market for iPhone shipments.
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Global smartphone shipments this year are on track to be the worst in a decade, Counterpoint Research said in a report on Thursday, as the market is dragged down by the U.S. and China.
However, Apple could become the biggest player in smartphones this year by shipments, as its high-end iPhone sales remain resilient, the report added.
Measuring expected demand, shipments are not equivalent to sales and represent the number of devices that smartphones vendors send to retailers.
Counterpoint Research said it expects smartphone shipments in 2023 to decline 6% year-on year to 1.15 billion devices.
“Asia is one of the major hurdles to positive growth, as headwinds halt the economic turnaround anticipated for China at the start of the year, and the broader region experiences intensifying declines across emerging markets,” Counterpoint said in its report.
China’s economy this year has sputtered and not lived up to expectations of a rapid recovery, while consumers remain cautious on spending.
Chinese smartphone purchases, which used to average 450 million devices a year at their peak, have shrunk to 270 million per year — contributing as a major cause behind the decline in global smartphone sales, Karn Chauhan, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research told CNBC via email.
North America continues to dampen the global recovery, with a “disappointing” first half of the year setting the region up for double-digit full-year declines, Counterpoint’s report said.
“Despite strength in the jobs market and inflation falling, consumers are hesitant to upgrade their devices, pushing replacement rates for the US and globally to record highs,” the research firm said.
‘Apple in a good spot’
The premium end of the market with higher priced devices has remained quite resilient, despite a fall in overall smartphone shipments.
Apple is gearing up to launch its next flagship smartphone — the iPhone 15 — in September. That could give the company a strong showing going into the end of the year, Counterpoint said.
“But we’re watching Q4 (fourth quarter) 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,” Jeff Fieldhack, research director for North America at Counterpoint Research, said in a press release.
Chauhan said the analyst firm expects Apple shipments to be up “marginally” year-on-year, given demand in markets like China and other Asian countries where there is a “growing premiumization trend” — meaning that people are willing to pay a higher price for phones.
Apple’s iPhone range helps Apple play in the premium segment of the smartphone market.
Counterpoint Research said that the U.S. company could this year take the top spot globally in terms of annual shipments for the first time ever. Samsung was the biggest player by market share in the second quarter of the 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,” Fieldhack said. “Assuming Apple doesn’t run into production problems like it did last year, it’s really a toss up at this point.”
Apple has made a push into new markets, with India being a focal point for the company in 2023, as it tries to capitalize on local consumers’ appetite for premium devices. The U.S. company opened its first physical stores in India this year, with CEO Tim Cook visiting the country.
Apple’s ability to grow in the market will also factor into whether it ends up as the number one smartphone maker this year, according to Chauhan.
“The reception of the iPhone 15 and growth in non-core iPhone markets will decide if Apple surpasses Samsung at the full-year level or not,” Chauhan told CNBC.
A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025.
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Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates.
Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year.
In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen.
Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends.
The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony’s accounting from the current quarter, the company added.
However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster.
The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly.
A Samsung Group flag flutters in front of the company’s Seocho building in Seoul.
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Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced that it would acquire all shares of German-based FläktGroup, a leading heating and cooling solutions provider, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from European investment firm Triton.
Samsung said the acquisition would help it expand in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business as the market experiences rapid growth.
“Our commitment is to continue investing in and developing the high-growth HVAC business as a key future growth engine,” said TM Roh, Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.
The acquisition of FläktGroup stands to bolster Samsung’s position in the HVAC market against rivals such as LG Electronics.
FläktGroup supplies heating, HVAC solutions to a wide range of buildings and facilities, notably data centers which require a high degree of stable cooling. Samsung said it anticipates sustained growth in data center demand due to the proliferation of generative AI, robotics, autonomous driving and other technologies.
FläktGroup has more 60 major customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, biotech and food and beverage firms, and gigafactories, according to Samsung’s statement.
Samsung said in March that its HVAC solutions had achieved double-digit annual revenue growth over the past five years, and that the company aimed to boost revenue by more than 30% in 2025.
