According to analysis by IDC, total sales will decrease by up to 3.5 percent in 2022. Apple’s tightly controlled supply chain is supposed to help the iPhone.
From the upcoming smartphone Crisis in the world market Apple should be less affected than other major manufacturers. This is what the analysts at the International Data Corporation (IDC) assume. According to their latest numbers, there will be no growth for the overall market in 2022. Instead of a previously forecast plus of 1.6 percent, the market experts now expect a minus of 3.5 percent to a total of 1.31 billion devices sold worldwide.
Zero-COVID and a drop in demand
This is mainly due to the supply chain restrictions triggered by the strict zero-COVID policy in China due to the omicron variant of the corona virus. The resulting effects resulted in a lower supply of components, and in some cases entire factories – for example in Shanghai – that were busy with the final assembly of smartphones came to a standstill. According to the IDC figures, however, demand is also lower, which in turn is likely to have something to do with the Ukraine conflict and the sharp rise in oil and gas prices.
But the lockdowns also ensured that the huge Chinese market was affected because people were buying less there. So there was the combination of lower global demand and a constrained supply. “Many OEMs have reduced their orders this year as a result,” according to the report. Among them were Samsung and Apple. However, Apple seems to be “the least affected seller” to be. The reason: The group controls its supply chain much more closely than other market participants.
Apple is in the high-price segment
Furthermore, it plays into Apple’s hands that “the majority of its customers are in the high-price segment” . These are therefore “less affected by macroeconomic problems such as inflation” affected. Initially, IDC did not give precise figures on how much Apple’s sales could collapse. In the market as a whole, however, Europe was hit hardest this year by a drop in smartphone sales – it is said to be up to 22 percent. China’s market is shrinking by 11.5 percent and other regions in Asia by 3 percent. However, the IDC market researchers expect a recovery as early as 2023, and growth in the overall market should then be 5 percent.
According to earlier reports, Apple itself does not expect smartphone growth in 2022. The company is said to have ordered 220 million devices from the “iPhone 14” line from its manufacturers. Originally 240 million pieces were planned.
