The smartphone market is facing a bleak 2023, with several research Companies along with the likes of Qualcomm predicting doom and gloom for smartphone sales, the bright spot is foldables.

At this stage 2022 is shaping to deliver a 10% fall in volume sales with Chinese brands sales falling by over 30% due to problems in China.

According to IDC data units sold, are split among the five major manufacturers, who together account for nearly 70% of sales.

The remaining 30% includes house brands sold by the likes of Telstra and Optus who are propping up Chinese smartphone sales via their relationship with banned Chinese brand ZTE.

IDC research shows that during the past 5 years smartphone sales have decreased from one year to the next and 2023 could see a further decline with research showing that consumers are not sold on 5G.

Qualcomm has slashed its forecast for smartphone shipments after predicting a gloomier than expected sales outlook,.

The US business who is the biggest supplier of processors to smartphone manufacturers is forecasting a low-double-digit percentage decline from an earlier forecast of a mid-single-digit fall,

They claim the downward trend in the handset market is accelerating.

They have also reduced its projection for 5G handset sales this year to as many as 650 million from an earlier forecast of up to 700 million.

Earlier in the year it forecast shipments of more than 750 million units.

In several markets 5G has fallen flat with consumers failing to notice the difference or more importantly taking the decision that 5G is not delivering a noticeably value proposition.

According to a UK study by Uswitch, 5G is seen as underwhelming.

Only half of the users say they have noticed faster speeds or improved connection stability, since upgrading to 5G.

And one in six users think the technology falls short of its claims.

In Australia consumers have been flocking to rural areas only to find that the likes of Telstra are struggling to deliver 4G despite handsets giving out a 5G signal in areas where Telstra is telling consumers 5G is available.

We noticed this recently in Nelson Bay NSW where we only for a maximum of 2Mb per second.

According to IDC data for the third quarter, which covers the months of July to September, 301.9 million smartphones were distributed.

This is the worst quarter in nine years and the lowest since 2013.

In the last quarter, only Apple’s sales increased year over year.

In Australia the brands that are seeing growth at the expense of Chinese brands such as Oppo, and Vivo are Motorola, Nokia and Google with their new Pixel 7 models.

Samsung is still the market leader with the South Korean Company set to launch new Galaxy models in January 2023.

Next week Motorola is set to launch their new Razr Flip phone in the Australian market, this will provide Samsung with competition as they have had the foldable market to themselves.

According to Samsung management foldables make up 12% of the total volume in smartphone sales in Australia with several Samsung subsidiaries benefiting from a lack of competition.

According to sources at Samsung Taiwan, sales of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 foldable smartphones in the Taiwan market have been higher than expected since their launch.

In this market pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 alone increased by 200% compared to its predecessor, the Z Fold 3.

Overall, Samsung’s target is for a 50% annual shipment growth for its Z-series foldable models moving forward according to management in Korea.

According to market data compiled in September, sales in the Southeast Asian market sales increased by 1.4 times compared to the previous generation, and shipments in Australia “significantly” according to local sources.

Initial sales of the new foldable smartphones in Europe have also increased by 2-fold, said the sources, citing the market data.

The sources estimate that Samsung’s overall smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022 will be higher than the amount it shipped in the previous quarter.