According to TrendForce’s forecasts, global smartphone shipments in 2023 will increase by 25% annually, reaching 15.9 million units, accounting for approximately 1.4% of the smartphone market. This year, shipments are expected to increase by 11% to 17.7 million units, and the market share is expected to increase to 1.5%. The growth rate, as before, remains below expectations, and the share of the complex smartphone segment is predicted to exceed only 2% by 2025.

The slowdown in sales of complex devices is due to two main factors: first, low customer retention due to frequent problems and lack of confidence in the product due to the need to resort to maintenance. Secondly, prices of advanced smartphones are still high and have not yet fallen to an acceptable level for consumers, making it difficult to achieve sales targets based solely on price, analysts said.

While Samsung maintained its market leadership despite its share falling from 80% in 2022 to less than 70% in 2023, Huawei’s smartphone shipments increased to 12%. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo brands kept their market shares below 10%. Just like last year, Samsung will aim to maintain its market share of around 60 percent in 2024. On the other hand, Huawei is actively increasing its supply of high-end smartphones to increase its market share to over 20%.

According to a report by TrendForce, Oppo and Vivo have made it clear that they will delay plans to launch small vertical foldable devices this year, focusing on larger horizontal foldable models due to concerns about higher costs affecting production margins. In contrast, Huawei is preparing to introduce a small vertical smartphone with 5G support, and Honor is expected to launch in the compact foldable models segment this year.