Global smartphone market back on track

The global monthly smartphone sell-through volumes grew 5 per cent (year-on-year), making October the first month to record year-on-year growth since June 2021 and breaking the streak of 27 consecutive months of negative year-on-year growth, a new report said on Wednesday. According to Counterpoint Research, the growth has been led by emerging markets with a continuous recovery in the Middle East and Africa, Huawei’s comeback in China and the onset of the festive season in India. “Global smartphone sales have been under stress for last two years affected by various issues starting with component shortages, inventory build-up and lengthening of replacement cycles,” the report said. These issues have been compounded with an uncertain macroeconomic environment and as a result, global smartphone sales have declined year-on-year every month for more than two years,” it added. Another factor for growth has been the launch of the iPhone 15 series, according to the report. In comparison to last year, the launch was pushed back by a week, meaning that the full impact of the new iPhone sales was seen in October. Following strong growth in October, the researchers expected the market to grow year-on-year in the fourth quarter (Q4) of this year as well, setting the market on the path to gradual recovery in the coming quarters. @@@