The global smartphone market has been in a downward spiral lately. Shipments dropped 9% and 12% in the second and third quarters of this year, respectively. The outlook for the year-ending quarter is gloomy too. Perhaps, this downward trend may continue in the near future. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone vendor, doesn’t see the market recovering much in 2023 either. It has set a modest sales target for next year.
According to the Korean media, Samsung is aiming to ship 270 million smartphones in 2023. That’s marginally more than the company’s 2022 target of 260 million units. But, the latter figure was set after multiple revisions. The Korean behemoth originally planned to sell more than 300 million smartphones this year. It revised the target to 270 million units in May after slowing sales amid global economic uncertainty following the Russia-Ukraine war and the rising US-China political tensions.
Unfortunately, things continued to deteriorate in subsequent months. Consumer spending on new smartphones dropped globally, forcing Samsung to further lower its 2022 smartphone sales target to 260 million units in August. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t see the market rebounding anytime soon, with it setting a sales target of 270 million units for 2023. The firm’s shipment volume has been hovering around this figure for the past couple of years.
Having peaked in 2017 (320 million units), Samsung has struggled to breach the 300 million mark again. External factors have severely affected the smartphone industry in recent years, though. In 2020, it was the coronavirus pandemic, the semiconductor shortage in 2021, and the inflation crisis this year. The Korean firm seemingly expects the latest economic headwinds to have long-term implications on the smartphone market.
Samsung plans to increase the sales of premium smartphone models in 2023
Samsung reportedly plans to increase the sales of its premium smartphones next year. The company sees foldable sales growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 80 percent at least until 2024. With little to no competition in this space, it is looking to cash in on this opportunity. Moreover, the Korean behemoth also wants the Ultra model to be the crowd favorite in its Galaxy S lineup. It is aiming to increase the proportion of the Ultra model to 50 percent.
Overall, Samsung is targeting its Galaxy S and Galaxy Z series premium smartphones to sell at least 60 million units next year. The company wants to maintain profitability instead of driving sales volume with low-margin Galaxy A and Galaxy M series models. It remains to be seen if the Korean behemoth can achieve its targets.
2022-10-31 15:05:58