Handset revenue dips three per cent this Q3 over last year – Counterpoint

Selling prices hold up in Q3 due to higher cost of 5G devices

Global smartphone handset revenue slumped three per cent in Q3 2022 to just above $100 billion, according to latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor Service. But there was a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in the average selling price due to the premium handset’s resilience to economic uncertainty. 5G handsets, which cost five times an average non-5G handset, also added to the average selling price and revenue growth. The overall handset market dipped 12 per cent in the last quarter.

At over $80 billion, the revenue contribution of 5G handsets reached an all-time high of 80 per cent of global handset revenues, up from 69 per dent over the third quarter of last year. In the same period, non-5G handsets’ revenue contribution fell 10 per dent to $19 billion. The shift from 4G to 5G was driven by Apple, which accounted for over half of all 5G revenues and seven per cent average selling price boost in Q3. This contributed to an overall increase in global handset average selling price. Apple’s average selling price bumped up by10 per cent in Q3.

Samsung, saw a relatively modest average selling price increase of two per cent in Q3 despite an almost doubling of the shipments of its premium Flip and Fold series in the same period as well as a 27 per cent revenue growth of its 5G smartphones. The lower growth of its average selling price was due to to a shift in focus from the S22 series to the foldable series. Samsung revenue declined four per cent this Q3.

Xiaomi’s handset revenue grew four per cent in Q3, mainly from the low-to-mid price bands. There was, says Counterpoint, a shift from the sub-$200 to $200-$299 price band. Xiaomi’s average selling price grew 14 per cent to $205.

Covid lockdowns in China hit OPPO which saw an average selling price and revenue decline of five per cent and 25 per cent in Q3 respectively.