On June 7th, according to a report released by TrendForce Consulting on WeChat, the global economic downturn continues to impact consumer market confidence. In the first quarter of 2023, global smartphone production was only 250 million units, a 19.5% decline compared to the same period in 2022. The recession is not only the largest in history, but quarterly production has also reached a historic low since 2014.

Summarizing relevant global market share data, Samsung ranked first in Q1 2023 with a share of 24.6%; Apple ranks second with a share of 19.7%; OPPO ranks third with a share of 10.7%; Xiaomi ranks fourth with a share of 10.6%; Vivo ranks fifth with a share of 8.0%.

The TrendForce report states that, Thanks to the launch of the flagship Galaxy S23 series, Samsung's smartphone production in the first quarter reached 61.5 million units, an increase of 5.5% month on month. In the second quarter, due to the decreasing popularity of new phone launches, it is estimated that production will decline by nearly 10% month on month. Apple (AAPL) In the first quarter, the production of smartphones totaled 53.3 million units, a decrease of 32.9% compared to the same period last year. Among them, the proportion of new iPhone 14 series models in production was about 78%, which is better than the same period last year. Looking ahead to the second quarter, as it is a transitional period between new and old models, it is estimated that the production will decrease by about 20% compared to the same period last year

The report shows that OPPO (including OPPO, realme, OnePlus) has planned to reduce production due to poor market conditions and adjustment of channel inventory. In the first quarter, production was 26.8 million units, a decrease of 17% month on month. In the second quarter, it is expected to benefit from appropriate inventory adjustment and a slight rebound in demand in Southeast Asia and other regions, with the opportunity for production to increase by about 25% month on month. It is worth mentioning that in addition to continuously consolidating the market share of high-end models in the Chinese market, OPPO has achieved significant sales results in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, with its overseas markets accounting for nearly 60% of its overall sales.

According to the report, Xiaomi (including Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO) produced 26.5 million units in the first quarter, a decrease of 27.4% compared to the previous quarter. This is mainly due to low global consumer confidence and the high inventory level of Xiaomi's finished products. Therefore, production planning is quite conservative. Due to the continuous inventory adjustment in the second quarter, the growth rate of quarterly production is limited, and it is estimated to increase by about 20% compared to the previous quarter. The production of vivo (including vivo and iQOO) in the first quarter was 20 million units, a decrease of 14.2% compared to the previous quarter. Currently, China is still the main sales market, and the estimated production in the second quarter will increase by about 10% compared to the previous quarter.

TrendForce stated that due to the continued economic downturn, transactions in the second mobile phone market and maintenance market have been more active than before, which may hinder the growth rate of smartphone production in the second quarter. In summary, the production of smartphones in the second quarter, supported by seasonal demand, is expected to reach 260 million units, an increase of about 5% month on month. However, due to the poor overall environment, it is still declining by nearly 10% compared to the same period last year.