Samsung, Apple lead another weak smartphone quarter
Kar-Tr
The worldwide market for smartphone sales continued to slump during the first quarter of 2023 as a combination of weak demand, inflation and larger economic issues continued to weigh on industry leaders such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF).
That's the assessment from technology research firm IDC, which on Thursday released the results from its quarterly mobile phone tracker. According to IDC, worldwide smartphone shipments in the first quarter plunged by 14.6% from a year ago, to 268.8B units, making it the seventh-consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment declines.
IDC said the decline was more than the 12.7% shipment drop it had expected, and wasn't surprising due to the state of the smartphone market.
"The industry is going through a period of inventory clearing and adjustment," said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team. Popal said IDC was still "optimistic" about smartphone sales recovering by the end of the year, but another tough three to six months are on the horizon.
"Everyone is anxious about exactly when the tide will turn and wants to be first to ride the wave of recovery," Popal said "However, it's a tricky situation. Anyone who jumps in too soon will drown in excess inventory."
IDC said that among the leading smartphone makers, Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) remained in the No. 1 spot, with 60.5M shipments, and a 22.5% market share. However, its shipments fell by almost 19%, from 74.6M a year ago. 
Apple (AAPL) remained in second place, with 55.2M shipments and a 20.5% market share. However, while Apple's (AAPL) iPhone shipments dipped by 2.3% from a year ago, its market share grew from 18% in the first quarter of 2022.
China's Xiaomi came in third place, with 30.5M shipments and 11.4% market share as its shipments fell more than 23% from a year ago. OPPO took fourth place with 27.4M shipments and 10.2% of the market, as its shipments declined from 29.3M in 2022's first quarter. Fifth place went to Vivo with its 20.5M shipments and 7.6% share of the market, as its shipments fell from 25.3M a year ago.
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