We stopped buying new smartphones from the most famous companies

How long have you been using your current smartphone? Have you bought a new one recently? If you answered no, you are not alone. It turns out that Europeans are not particularly eager to buy new phones from the most famous brands.

Bad situation on the European smartphone market

Europe is generally a wealthy area, but many inhabitants of the Old Continent cannot afford to buy a flagship smartphone. However, this does not mean that they do not buy any. There are quite a lot of manufacturers in Europe offering affordable devices. Therefore, at least in theory, most people can buy the phone. However, it turns out that Europeans have recently been rather reluctant to do so.

According to a new report by Counterpoint Research, in the third quarter of 2023, 11% fewer smartphones were delivered to the European market than in the same period a year earlier. Although deliveries do not translate 1:1 into sales, it indicates much lower demand. The analytical company specifies that in Western Europe, deliveries decreased by 8% year on year, while in Eastern Europe by as much as 15%.

Research Analyst Harshit Rastogi, commenting on this situation, said that in terms of delivery volume, the third quarter of 2023 was the worst third quarter since 2011. Despite this, some manufacturers managed to increase deliveries – these are the Infinix and TECNO and HONOR brands. The first two, especially in Russia, which is under sanctions, while the last one did extremely well in Western Europe.

Associate Director Jan Stryjak noted that the premieres of Samsung’s new flagship smartphones and iPhone 15 helped “mitigate the declines.” At the same time, he does not expect any increases in deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023, but Counterpoint Research is optimistic about ending the year strong in the fourth quarter.

Only HONOR managed to increase deliveries

Of the five manufacturers that delivered the most smartphones to the European market, only HONOR managed to increase deliveries year-on-year. Interestingly, Counterpoint Research expects that its shares in Europe will grow, as it may take away customers from other Chinese companies, such as OPPO (which has big problems on the Old Continent).

Infinix and TECNO, not included in the TOP 5, increased deliveries even further compared to the third quarter of 2022 – by as much as 518% and 192%, respectively, mainly due to large deliveries to Russia. Both brands also operate in Poland, but they still do not have a strong position on the Polish market.

Counterpoint Research also notes that Samsung delivered the fewest smartphones in the third quarter since 2011, and Apple delivered the fewest since Q3 2014. Xiaomi, on the other hand, dominates in Eastern Europe with 35% of the market share there. OPPO is also doing best in this region – in Western Europe, the situation of this brand is not the best.

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