Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has announced that global supply chains are now “100 per cent stable,” and the company is witnessing an increase in demand, particularly in the premium smartphone market, which has remained “resilient” to the challenges the industry faced. According to Fadi Abu Shamat, the head of the mobile experience division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, the company was previously affected by the supply chain disruptions that occurred globally in 2022. However, the vision for 2023 is different, and the company expects more stable demand from consumers and better and more stable supply from factories globally.
Samsung’s financial report for 2022 last month also acknowledged that the sector was hit in the fourth quarter of 2022, “with the mass market contracting sharply due to continued inflation and geopolitical instability.” According to a report by Counterpoint Research published this month, global smartphone shipments decreased by 12% annually to 1.2 billion units in 2022, the lowest since 2013. In the fourth quarter alone, shipments dropped by 18% year-on-year to their lowest level for a holiday quarter since 2013.
However, despite this decline in global smartphone shipments, demand for premium products has been growing. Premium smartphones are those that typically cost $400 or more, and their average selling prices rose 8% annually to a record $780 in the second quarter of 2022, according to Counterpoint Research.
Mr Abu Shamat stated that consumers in the premium segment are not price hunters, but quality hunters, who seek the highest return on investment for their purchase of a smartphone in that category. According to him, Samsung’s strategy has never been to compete on price point offerings but to listen to consumers and provide what they need and demand. The new Galaxy S23 series is expected to be launched in Dubai, UAE.
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