Telephone demand dips, industry going through inventory clearing and adjustment
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Telephone shipments have dipped 21 per cent worldwide since 2021, gleaned from an International Data Corporation (IDC) report, which shows shipments dropped 22 per cent from 340 million units in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021) to 268 million in Q1 2023.
The highest shipments in Q1 2021 slashed to 311.2 million units in Q1 2022 and further declined to 268 million units in Q1 2023.
Year-on-year (YoY), global shipments reached 1.67 million units in 2021 but dropped to 1.21 billion units in 2022.
Total smartphone shipments declined 14.6 per cent YoY to 268.6 million units in Q1 2023, the seventh consecutive quarterly decline as the smartphone market struggled with lukewarm demand, inflation, and macro uncertainties.
IDC said the decline was more than the 12.7 per cent it previously estimated.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in a 2021 report noted that “some experts think that ‘peak smartphone’ is already behind us, market research group IDC remained hopeful for the industry to return to previous heights and even surpass them.”
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Smartphone prices jump 10% out of reach for many
Telephone device imports cost $2.35b in 3 years
Africa anticipates 100m new mobile subscribers by 2025. Nigeria 18m
__________________________________________________________________
Inventory clearing and adjustment period
Nabila Popal, IDC Research Director of Worldwide Tracker, explained “The industry is going through a period of inventory clearing and adjustment,” per The PUNCH.
“Market players remain cautious deploying a conservative approach rather than dumping more stock into a channel to chase temporary gains in share. I think this is the smart thing to do if we want to avoid an unhealthy situation like 2022.
“While we are optimistic about recovery by the end of the year, we still have a tough 3-6 months ahead. Everyone is anxious about exactly when the tide will turn and wants to be the first to ride the wave of recovery. However, it is a tricky situation.”
Inflation and market saturation have thrown the global phone shipment market into turmoil, especially as projections about a great recession loom.