Entire Android industry can't compete with Apple's growth last quarter

The first quarter of 2022 was not a good one for Android, with every major manufacturer losing market share. Meanwhile, Apple was the only smartphone maker to increase its share.

The latest report by IDC sheds light on the issues the smartphone market is experiencing and the toll it’s taking on their shipments. Between the global pandemic, supply chain woes, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, smartphone shipments are down significantly. As a result, every major Android manufacturer has been impacted, some significantly so.

See also: Samsung vs Apple, in numbers

Here are the top five smartphone vendors’ market share changes year-over-year:

• Samsung lost 1.2%
• Apple gained 2.2%
• Xiaomi lost 17.8%
• OPPO lost 26.8%
• vivo lost 27.7%
• Others lost 2.7%

In total, the industry shipped 314.1 million units in Q1 2022, down 8.9% from the 344.7 million units it shipped in Q1 2021. Interestingly, Apple and Samsung both bucked the overall trend. Apple was the only major manufacturer to see market share growth, while Samsung’s losses were orders of magnitude less than its rivals. IDC chalks this up to superior supply chain management on the part of both companies.

“Our research tells us Samsung and Apple have navigated the supply chain situation a bit better than their competitors, and as a result, we have seen reduced orders from the next set of top OEMs,” writes Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

While the companies’ losses are concerning, IDC believes the numbers may not be telling the whole story. Rather than truly losing market share, the firm believes smartphone demand has merely been delayed, meaning the various companies could see a significant increase in share in the coming quarters.

“We remain of the opinion that any diminished demand will not be lost, but rather pushed forward,” Reith continued. “It’s just a matter of when that demand resumes.”