After the 2022 problems, the phone market shrinks once more.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, forecasts a drop in mobile device demand this year following the economic problems of 2022.
Samsung’s profits fell the most in a decade due to falling chip prices.
“Against the backdrop of lingering geopolitical challenges, ongoing inflation, and an economic downturn, we expect the smartphone market to contract in 2023, with the mainstream market bearing the brunt of the impact,” said Daniel Araujo, vice president of Samsung.
Mobile device manufacturers have been particularly hard hit by the slowdown in consumer spending, but there is hope for a recovery in 2023 as China gradually reopens following the relaxation of the country’s strict COVID Zero policy.
China is the world’s largest smartphone market and is unlikely to repeat the double-digit drop in shipments and sales seen in 2022, but this, according to Samsung, will not be enough to restore growth to the mobile business shortly.