Premium smartphones make up 50% of global handset revenue: Report

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While global smartphone shipments fell by 12 percent year-on-year in 2022, a new report indicates a rise in sale of premium smartphones. The premium segment captured more than a fifth of the global smartphone sales and over 50 percent of the total global smartphone revenue.

According to data from Counterpoint Research, global premium smartphone sales climbed 1 percent on-year in contrast, which allowed the price segment to contribute to 55 percent of the total global smartphone market revenue for the first time ever. The report notes that there were several reasons for this growth.

Counterpoint’s analysts also noted that despite the tough market conditions in 2022, “affluent consumers were more immune to the macroeconomic difficulties than customers from the lower end”. This meant sales in the premium segment grew, while those in the entry and mid-range segments fell. Additionally, the $1,000 and above price segment was the fastest growing, 38 percent year-on-year, in 2022.

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At the centre of the growth in the premium segment was Apple, which captured 75 percent of the premium smartphone market share, which accounts for handsets priced at $600 and above. In 2021, Apple had a market share of 71 percent in the premium smartphone market, managing to grow 4 percent YoY. Apple also grew despite major disruptions in its supply chains.

While Samsung ranked second in the premium smartphone segment, it saw a 5 percent year-on-year drop in shipments. However, the report does note that foldable smartphones have been a positive for the South Korean tech giant. While Huawei and Xiaomi also seen a dip in premium smartphone shipments, Honor and Google saw an uptake in shipments.

Google was featured among the top OEMs growing from a low base, driven by the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro. Honor, on the other hand, expanded its market share in China with the introduction of the new Magic series. In terms of operating system domination, iOS captured three-fourths of all smartphone sales in the premium market.

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