Only one of the top five smartphone brands showed growth in global shipments last quarter

Apple is the only manufacturer in the top five to report growth in shipments during Q3

Canalys Research Analyst Runar Bjørhovde says that the only sector of the market showing growth was the high-end. He adds, “Apple reached its highest Q3 market share yet, driven by both the iPhone 13 and newly launched iPhone 14 series. The popularity of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, in particular, will contribute to a higher ASP (Average Selling Price)  and stable revenue for Apple.”

The outlook for the current quarter is the gloomiest in a decade

Canalys Analyst Toby Zhu is concerned that “global disruptions” are going to make the current fourth quarter the “gloomiest” in over a decade. With the upcoming winter in mind, manufacturers are cutting their production targets and those that survive the quarter in good shape, Zhu notes, will be those brands in a good position for the long term.

Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia took a look at the global aspects of the smartphone industry. “Europe and Asia Pacific outperformed the rest of the world in Q3,” the analyst wrote. “Europe avoided a significant drop helped by a spike in shipments to Russia. Here, Chinese vendors leveraged short-term opportunities to stock up the channel in a market that has been undersupplied during previous quarters.”

Chaurasia continued by noting that “APAC (Asia Pacific) had a huge variation between different markets, but sequentially improving demand in India, Indonesia and the Philippines helped the region stabilize its performance. Carrier-dominated markets such as North America and Latin America presented increasingly cautious sentiments on managing inventory before heading into big holiday seasons, contrasting a much more optimistic view in Q3 last year.”