Under the condition that the shape of mobile phones tends to be similar, the improvement of chip performance is limited, and there is no revolutionary change in image function, the replacement cycle of consumers continues to lengthen. Meanwhile, under the influence of macro factors such as the epidemic, the popularity of China’s mobile phone consumer market continued to decline in the first quarter of 2022.
According to CINNO Research data, the Chinese mainland mobile phone sales in the first quarter of 2022 were about 74 million 390 thousand, down 14.4% from the same period last year, a 0.7% increase over the fourth quarter of last year. Oppo ranked first in terms of sales volume, with a month on month increase of 9.4% and a year-on-year decrease of 37.6%; Glory ranked second in sales volume, with a month on month increase of 20.9% and a year-on-year increase of 176.0%.
It is noteworthy that glory has achieved brand rebirth and self transcendence with brilliant achievements, firmly ranking second in the quarter. Three of its models entered the top 10 of the single product sales list in the first quarter, namely glory 60, glory x30 and glory changwan 30 plus, which are the domestic brands with the largest number of entries.
Although apple only ranked fourth in the first quarter, with a month on month sales decline of 35.0%, which was lower than the popularity at the beginning of the launch of iPhone 13 series in the fourth quarter of last year, it decreased by only 1.3% year-on-year. This is due to the strong shipping cycle of Apple iPhone 13 series in the previous quarter and a large base, while apple fell back to the normal level this quarter. Apple’s three iPhone 13 series models still firmly occupy the top three of the single product sales list, among which the single quarter sales of iPhone 13 is as high as 5.58 million, far ahead of all other single products.
Although oppo still maintained the first ranking of sales volume in a single quarter, the gap between oppo and the glory sales volume that jumped up rapidly has been very small. At the same time, the sales volume of oppo, vivo and Xiaomi in the first quarter fell by 20-40% year-on-year.
According to the monthly data in March, the sales of smart phones in Chinese mainland market was about 20 million 40 thousand, down 24.7% compared to the same period last year, and the decline rate was 14.6% compared with the February mobile phone market. The top two brands in sales volume were glory and oppo, with a month on month decrease of 11.9% and 15.6% respectively. Glory increased by 143.6% year-on-year, while oppo decreased by 45.9% year-on-year.
Glory continued its strong performance. Although the month on month sales volume also decreased in March, the decline was smaller than that of other brands. It completed the phased achievements of brand remodeling in terms of total volume and ranking, and won the top of the monthly sales volume in one fell swoop. Glory 60, glory changplay 30plus and glory x30 all ranked among the top 10 in single product sales.
Although apple fell to the fourth place, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 13 Pro still firmly occupy the top three of the single product sales list, and still have great advantages in revenue and profit.
The main brands of oppo and vivo and Xiaomi (including red rice) have shrunk significantly year-on-year. The number of new products released in March is significantly lower than that in the same period last year, and they are mainly released in late March, which is difficult to drive the sales volume of the current month.
Since March, the epidemic situation in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and other places has seriously hit the rhythm of production and transportation in the consumer electronics industry chain. With the epidemic situation in Shanghai getting worse in April, the operating rate of semiconductor supply chain in the Yangtze River Delta is seriously insufficient and logistics is generally delayed, the decline of smart phones will continue.
Cinno research believes that in recent years, the morphological changes of mobile phones tend to stagnate, and it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory balance between processor performance and power consumption, which has also hit consumers’ desire to change phones. In addition, the lack of OEM yield and supply shortage of flagship processor of Android platform also make it more difficult for the Android high-end market, which is not dominant, to compete with apple, and the overall situation is in a downturn. At the same time, the off-screen camera, which appeared intensively last year, still failed to significantly open the market due to the compromise of screen display quality. Although the top 5 manufacturers have launched their flagship folding screen products, the volume of folding screen products can not be achieved overnight in the water test stage of the product market and when the production capacity supply is still limited.
