It hasn’t been a good year overall for the mobile phone market. The November data showed it didn’t look up, and everything seems to be going beyond the COVID crisis. Cell phones are getting expensiveare becoming less and less different from each other, and only two companies are theirs.

While the market is falling, Apple continues to watch from its throne. Xiaomi also survives

Image: Counterpoint.

Global mobile phone revenues fell 3% year-on-year. This is a relatively slight decrease, even more if we take into account that shipments are down 12% year over year. With such a hit in shipments, how is only a 3% drop in revenue possible? With mobile phones getting more and more expensive.

According to Counterpoint data, the average selling price of phones increased by 10%. This is primarily due to premium and 5G phone sales, which has allowed the market’s final bill to rise despite the drop in shipments. While the advisor also points to good sales on previous-generation models, Apple has a lot to say here with the iPhone 14 Pro.

Only Apple and Xiaomi resisted the attack. While OPPO (whose numbers include OnePlus), Samsung and Vivo are falling, they’re the only ones to experience year-over-year revenue growth. The cake continues to be shared with an Apple. Holding more than 40% of the marketfollowed by Samsung, which is close to 20%, and Xiaomi, which now exceeds 8%.

2023 aims to be a year of uncertainty. Every year, we move away from the out-of-control growth and approach the “Summit smartphone”. Maturity of products, longer life cycles that delay renewal, and uncontrollable inflation make it an ideal cocktail for the mobile market to struggle to sustain growth next year.