Smartphone sales are so bad even the holidays couldnt help, says IDC

Smartphone shipments have dropped nearly 20 percent year-over-year during the recent holiday period, as consumer demand softens amid inflation and economic uncertainties. It’s the “largest-ever decline in a single quarter,” according to IDC, and it contributed to 2022 having the lowest annual shipment of smartphones since 2013.

While there were still 1.21 billion smartphones shipped in 2022, shipments during the all-important holiday quarter were actually down from the previous quarter for the first time ever. “We have never seen shipments in the holiday quarter come in lower than the previous quarter,” says Nabila Popal, research director at IDC. “However, weakened demand and high inventory caused vendors to cut back drastically on...

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