Samsung maintained its position as Europe’s top smartphone vendor with a 35 percent share of the market despite seeing shipments decline 16 percent YoY. Apple finished in second place with a 25 percent piece of the pie but experienced six percent negative growth. Both companies launched new devices during the period - Samsung with its Galaxy S22 series and Apple with its third-gen iPhone SE. Xiaomi took the bronze thanks to its 14 percent shipment share but was the biggest loser year over year as its shipments declined 36 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021.
The only top-five vendor with positive growth in Europe in Q1 was realme, a Chinese-based Android smartphone maker. The firm grew 67 percent year over year, from a two percent share to a four percent share. Counterpoint cited a number of factors that led to the quarterly dip including continued component shortages, additional pandemic lockdowns in China, regressing economic conditions and the war between Russia and Ukraine. The situation is only expected to get worse before it improves, especially in Q2 as the cost of living reaches record highs. Image credit: Daniel Romero
