Component shortages, production disruptions and low inventory availability are expected to continue to disrupt global smartphone sales in 2022.
According to Gartner, smartphone sales rebounded in the first half of 2021, following a 12.5% drop in 2020.
The decline in smartphone sales in the previous year due to Covid-19 and the rebound in growth in the first half of 2021 helped propel the market towards growth.
However, component shortages and supply chain issues have disrupted smartphone sales in the second half of 2021.
“An improving consumer outlook, pent-up demand from 2020 onwards in major markets, such as India and China, helped boost sales in the first half,” said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner.
“However, this trend reversed in the second half, even with strong consumer demand. Out-of-stock situations for popular models and limited stocks have pushed back some of the possible sales until 2022,” he added.
Global smartphone sales grew 6% last year.
Increased discretionary spending, market places opening post-lockdown, as well as a lower comparison base than in 2020 led to 6% growth in 2021.
The introduction of 5G at lower prices to meet future needs has influenced upgrade purchases.
As a result, smartphone sales increased for the top five vendors in 2021, according to the report.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, global smartphone sales fell 1.7% due to supply constraints.
Apple retained its top spot among the top five smartphone vendors.
Strong iPhone demand was driven by 5G upgrades.
Samsung saw strong demand for its high-end phones, and sales were up 11% from the fourth quarter of 2020.