In a nutshell: Global smartphone sales were down 6.8% in the 3rd quarter of the year, but the slump wasn't due to falling demand: blame the bit crisis. It was a positive Q3 for Apple tree, though, which has moved ahead of Xiaomi to take the second-largest market share behind leader Samsung.

The data comes from Gartner's latest market intelligence report. The enquiry visitor notes that the depressingly familiar trouble of the chip shortage has seen smartphone sales to cease-users autumn 6.8% yr-on-year.

"Despite strong consumer demand, smartphone sales declined due to delayed production launches, longer delivery schedule and bereft inventory at the channel," said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner. "Supply constraints impacted the product schedule of bones and utility smartphones much more than premium smartphones."

Gartner specifies radio frequency and ability management integrated circuits equally short-supply components that delayed production and impacted sales. There was, nevertheless, good news for phone companies as premium handsets grew in popularity throughout the quarter despite overall sales declining.

Looking at the peak five, Samsung retained its position at number one with 69 meg sales despite seeing its market share drop i.9% YoY. The Korean firm was helped by strong need for its Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Milky way Z Flip 3 devices.

Apple (48 meg) was slightly alee of Xiaomi (44 million). Gartner writes that upgrades in the iPhone 13 line, such as the bionic A15 sensor and camera, combined with Apple's trade-in programs helped spur sales. Xiaomi, meanwhile, connected its expansion in Europe and the Eye East.

4th place Vivo saw the largest yearly growth with a 20.nine% ascension to 36 million. The third Chinese manufacturer on the list, OPPO, took the fifth position with 33 meg sales.

While last year's lockdowns gave smartphone sales a boost, most of the Q3 2022 pass up can exist attributed to the chip crisis, which is affecting near every electronic consumer product (and vehicle) out in that location, from increasingly expensive graphics cards to consoles. It's even led to some manufacturers selling gaming PCs without dedicated GPUs.

Image credit: bodnar.photo