You can always lower prices! — Q4 2022 was a disaster for smartphone sales, sees the largest-ever drop Phone sales plummeted 18 percent last quarter, 11 percent for the entire year.

Ron Amadeo – Jan 26, 2023 9:00 pm UTC Enlarge / An empty Samsung Store. Samsung reader comments 193 with 0 posters participating Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit

With a million layoffs and rising inflation, it turns out consumers also aren’t interested in spending a ton on a new smartphone. The International Data Corporation has the latest numbers for worldwide smartphone sales in Q4 2022, and it’s a disaster. Shipments declined 18.3 percent year-over-year, making for the largest-ever decline in a single quarter and dragging the year down to an 11.3 percent decline. With overall shipments of 1.21 billion phones for the year, the IDC says this is the lowest annual shipment total since 2013.

In the top five for Q4 2022in order, they were Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and VivoApple was, of course, the least affected, but not by much. Apple saw a year-over-year drop of 14.9 percent for Q4 2022, Samsung was down 15.6 percent, and the big loser, Xiaomi, dropped 26.5 percent. For the year, Samsung still took the No. 1 spot with 21.6 percent market share, Apple was No. 2 with 18.8 percent, and Xiaomi took third place at 12.7 percent. Enlarge / The Q4 2022 bloodbath.IDC

The IDC also notes consumers are keeping smartphones longer than ever now, with “refresh rates” or the time that passes before people buy a new phone ‘climb[ing] past 40 months in most major markets.’ The report closes saying: “2023 is set up to be a year of caution as vendors will rethink their portfolio of devices while channels will think twice before taking on excess inventory. However, on a positive note, consumers may find even more generous trade-in offers and promotions continuing well into 2023 as the market will think of new methods to drive upgrades and sell more devices, specifically high-end models.” reader comments 193 with 0 posters participating Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Ron Amadeo Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. Email ron@arstechnica.com // Twitter @RonAmadeo Advertisement Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Next story → Related Stories Today on Ars