US smartphone market decline 17%, Apple share up to 53%

Smartphone shipments in the US declined 17 per cent (on-year) in the first quarter but Apple increased its market share to 53 per cent from 48 per cent in Q1 2022, a report has shown. The market witnessed a dip in shipments across all major OEMs after registering a strong first quarter last year, according to Counterpoint Research. “Persistent inflation and an uncertain economic outlook are causing consumers to hold off on new device purchases, resulting in lower upgrade rates and fewer device sales, especially in the prepaid segment,” said research analyst Matthew Orf. While prepaid brands saw significant YoY declines in shipments, there were some silver linings. “Samsung’s Galaxy S23 shipments were up double digits YoY while the Galaxy A14 5G performed exceptionally well in prepaid. The gap between low-end and premium devices seems to be widening, creating a vacuum in the mid-range device category,” said senior analyst Maurice Klaehne. Some niche categories may continue to perform well despite overall weakness. “For instance, there is a lot of excitement around foldables this year as more OEMs jump onto the bandwagon, which may stir demand for premium devices,” said associate research director Hanish Bhatia. The uncertain economic outlook forced consumers to hold off on new device purchases in Q1. “We expect the incumbent postpaid players to increase promotional activity during the second half of the year to combat cable MVNOs, which saw higher net additions than the Big 3 during the quarter, a first for the US market,” said Director of North America Research, Jeff Fieldhack.