Market research institute: Q2 global smartphone shipments will decline 6.4% year on year this year

On July 3, market research firm DIGITIMES Research estimated that global smartphone shipments fell 13.2% year-on-year to 264m units in the first quarter of 2023 and 6.4% year-on-year to 257m units in the second quarter of 2023.

At the end of January, global smartphone shipments fell to 12.055 billion units in 2022, down 11.3% from a year earlier, the lowest since 2013, according to statistics from research institutions.

After a sharp decline in 2022, researchers believe 2023 will be a cautious year, with manufacturers reconsidering their product portfolios.

In March, TechInsights predicted that global smartphone shipments would decline slightly in 2023, down 1 per cent from a year earlier. By 2024, global smartphone shipments will grow by 3% year-on-year.

However, according to the latest report released by TechInsights in early June, global smartphone shipments will continue to shrink to 1.16 billion units in 2023, down 2.8 per cent from 1.2 billion units in 2022.

DIGITIMES Research's forecast is close to that of TechInsights, which cut its global smartphone shipment forecast by 23 million to 1.1 billion in 2023. In addition, the agency slashed its forecast for global 5G smartphone shipments in 2023 to 577 million units from an initial 679 million, down 1.9% from a year earlier.