Apple and Samsung Grow in Europe’s Shrinking Smartphone Market

03 AUGUST 2022 - A bad quarter for smartphones in Europe was not so bad for Apple and Samsung. That’s according to new numbers from Counterpoint Research. The two firms managed to grow both unit sales and market share year-on-year, though each slipped quarter-on-quarter. That was likely due in part to macroeconomic uncertainty, though Counterpoint seems to put most of the sequential slip on both companies stopping sales in Russia after Russia started attacking Ukraine.

According to Counterpoint’s count, first-place Samsung sold 13-million smartphones in Europe last quarter. That represented a 9% increase from the 12-million it sold the same quarter a year earlier. Sammy’s European marketshare moved from 27% to 32% over the same timeframe.

Second-place Apple’s growth was not as dramatic. Then again, it doesn’t have as wide a price range as Samsung. iPhone sales moved from 9.2-million units in the year-ago quarter to 9.6-million last quarter - up 3% year-on-year. iPhone’s European marketshare moved from 21% to 24% over the same timeframe.

The only other firm to see growth was fifth-place realme. Sales grew 21%, but they’re so small that any growth looks huge. That came compliments of the company selling 1.3-million units last quarter versus 1-million a year earlier.

Counterpoint Research Associate Director Jan Stryjak was quoted in the release, saying:

…it was a mixed bag of results in Q2 2022, and year-on-year comparisons mask complex market dynamics. Much has changed in Europe compared to last year and even last quarter, both from an industry and macro perspective.

As for what’s ahead, Stryjak said:

…the situation in Europe unfortunately remains bleak. Many countries in Europe are slipping closer to recession, and domestic political tensions in numerous countries beyond Russia and Ukraine are rising, for example in France, Germany and the UK. We remain hopeful, though, that the bottom has been reached and the trajectory should turn upwards soon, but the recovery will likely be long and slow.