With Samsung Electronics likely to adjust downward its smartphone sales goal for 2023, Oppo, Vivo and other China-based brand vendors are also expected to see their Android smartphone shipments disappoint next year, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC design houses.
Samsung has already slashed orders for its Galaxy A-series smartphones, due to disappointing sales thus far in 2022, raising concerns about whether the poor sales of its best-selling series will prompt the vendor to cut its overall shipment goal next year, the sources said.
Chinese smartphone vendors including Oppo and Vivo have also seen lackluster demand, and remain cautious about order pull-ins for their new models slated for launch next year, the sources indicated.
Many research institutions have been pessimistic about the global handset market in 2023, citing negative macro factors. Unit sales next year may be just on par with 2022 levels - in what is seen as the best-case scenario, according to the sources.
In addition, the 5G smartphone market penetration rate has been disappointing this year, and may continue to be so in 2023, the sources said.
MediaTek estimated previously the global market penetration rate for 5G handsets at only 55% in 2023, compared with nearly 50% in 2022. India could be the only market to see relatively higher sales growth next year, while sales prospects remain unclear in China, the US and Europe, the mobile SoC specialist was quoted as saying in previous reports.
