At the same time, this was the eighth consecutive quarter in which premium devices performed better on an annual basis than the overall smartphone market. Of course, in this segment is arguably the most powerful Apple with a share of 62 percent, which means that the second quarter in a row to more than 60 percent.
Also, Apple has not had such a large share since the first quarter of 2017, and it was driven by excellent sales of the iPhone 13 series. Overall, as of October, this series of devices is the best-selling in the world, despite being significantly more expensive on average than many devices that can be found on the market.
At the same time, runner-up Samsung has fallen year-on-year in terms of share and is now at 16 percent, two percent less than last year at the same time. Something like this happened due to the later introduction of the S22 series, which sells significantly better than the S21 and it will be shown in the second quarter. In the Android competition of premium devices, the S22 Ultra is the best-selling.
In third place is OPPO, which includes the sale of OnePlus models. It makes five percent, which is one percent better result than last year. Xiaomi is in fourth place with four percent, as it had last year, while vivo is fifth with three percent, as last year. Huawei fell sharply, from nine to three percent. Clearly, Chinese manufacturers are doing well in the domestic market.
When we look at the average selling price (ASP) of the device, it increased by 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Anyway, three out of ten new devices purchased during the first three months of this year were premium.
It is also interesting that ultra-premium devices, which include everyone with a price of at least a thousand dollars, have grown by 164 percent and thus become the fastest growing category of smartphones. Of course, Apple and Samsung are the strongest. Or, more specifically, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, which account for more than two-thirds of all ultra-premium device sales. China, on the other hand, was above average in this respect, with ultra-premiums rising 176 percent.
Ultimately, all of this only confirms that manufacturers will continue to focus on premium devices, especially at a time when we are witnessing recent inflation, in which the devices with lower prices will suffer the hardest blow. Therefore, in order to mitigate or prevent total revenues, manufacturers must fare well in the market with a premium offering. Which is happening not only in the richer parts of the world but even in Latin America and India.
You must log in to post a comment.