Smartphone share in LATAM Archives

LATAM Smartphone Shipments Fall 9.9% YoY in Q1 2023, But Most Leading Brands’ Volume, Share Increase

Samsung remained the region’s absolute leader with a 41.7% market share. It was also the leader in all the markets in the region.
OPPO’s volume grew 88% YoY, the highest growth among leading brands in the region.
Brazil, Mexico, and Chile suffered the biggest drop YoY.

Buenos Aires, San Diego, Denver, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing – May 11, 2023

LATAM smartphone shipments declined 9.9% YoY in Q1 2023 on weak consumer demand, according to Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service. After a bleak Q4 of 2022, things did not turn around during the first quarter of 2023. Traditionally, Q1 is one of the slowest quarter of the year as the southern hemisphere’s summer recess falls in this quarter. The shipments usually start picking up in March in preparation for the Mother’s Day sales season in May. However, this year’s weak demand affected these shipments.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said, “High inflation, low economic growth, and some social unrest that continued from 2022 impacted consumer confidence in the region. 5G smartphones failed to attract consumers in big numbers to accelerate the rate of replacement. But still, the region’s 5G smartphone portfolio increased by more than 21% even as the share of 5G smartphones improved only a few points since December. It is still not clear whether the LATAM consumer wants a 5G smartphone or buys it as it is the best option available.”

Top Smartphone OEMs’ Market Share in Latin America, Q1 2023 vs Q1 2022

Source: Market Monitor

Commenting on the performance of OEMs in the region, Research Analyst Andres Silva said, “While the smartphone market continued to decline, most leading brands managed to increase their share and even volume. With leading brands having better product availability and deeper pockets to run promotions, the smaller brands were pushed to an all-time low. However, the overall inventory situation continued to improve.”

Market Summary

Samsung’s volume and share in the region dropped YoY, impacted by the general market decline. However, the brand’s share improved QoQ. During Q1 2022, Samsung started an aggressive volume shipments that continued till Q2 and resulted in high inventories that lasted until the end of 2022, impacting the brand’s shipments during H2 2022. This year, Samsung was more cautious and did not build that massive amount of inventory.
The launch of refreshed A series allowed Samsung to remain as the region’s absolute leader with a 41.7% share, more than double the closest competitor’s.
The launch of the S23 series allowed Samsung to remain the value leader in the region. Samsung conducted an aggressive promotional campaign for the launch of the S23 series, and it was rewarded with better performance than last year’s S22 series. Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina were the markets driving this growth.
Xiaomi also gained volume and share. Its growth was driven by the launch of the A2 model in February and the Note 12 model in April (shipments of the model started in March). The brand also managed to partially resolve the issues being faced by it in Mexico.
Xiaomi is trying to push its premium models, but the response from end users has been lukewarm so far.
Apple’s volume and share also increased YoY. The iPhone 11, a 4G model, drove its growth in the region.
Apple has been aggressively driving sales by offering a memory upgrade in the iPhone 14 and some subsidies for many of its products.
OPPO continued to grow, with its share more than doubling YoY. Its volume grew 88% YoY, the highest growth among leading brands in the region. Entering the region three years ago, OPPO has already consolidated its position among the top three in Mexico. It is now aiming to grow its share in Colombia and Peru.
OPPO is also set to increase its share in the premium segment by launching the Find N2 Flip in the region. It is the third OEM to launch a flip model in the region.
ZTE’s volume continued its decline from 2022. It is one of the brands affected by the regional decline.
The smaller and regional brands’ volumes continued to decrease. They have been squeezed by the big brands’ deep pockets and new entrants.

Feedback or a question for the analyst that wrote this note?

Tina Lu

Senior Analyst

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts

Tina Lu

Andres Silva

Peter Richardson

Follow Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

Latin America Smartphones Still Feeling Supply Constraint Headwinds

LATAM smartphone shipments decreased 5.8% YoY in Q1 2022.
Samsung led the market with 44.3% share followed by Motorola with 17.1% share.

Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego – June 8, 2022

Q1 2022 smartphone shipments dropped 5.8% YoY, affected by supply constraints, mainly among the Chinese brands. Also, last year’s first quarter sell-in was especially high making year on year comparisons tough. The supply issues are improving but might continue to be a drag for the rest of the year.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said: “During Q1 2022, OEMs in LATAM (includes the Caribbean and Latin America) were in a fierce price war, which mitigated the impact of consumer demand that started to contract, but it might not be the same moving forward, especially in the mid-high price band segment smartphones. 5G devices volume and penetration continue to grow; in Q1 2022, 5G devices represented 15% of the smartphones sold in the region. Brazil, Mexico and Chile lead 5G-enabled sales volume and penetration share. Samsung overtook Apple to become the leading vendor in 5G-enabled device sales.”

Top Smartphone OEMs’ Market Share in Latin America, Q1 2021 vs Q1 2022

Source: Counterpoint Research Q1 2022 Market Monitor

Lu added: “Chinese brands might not yet have the power to drive growth. Samsung increased its share in the region and continued leading the LATAM market, driven by Brazil and shipments of the Galaxy A 03 model family. Motorola’s shipment decline was caused by the Chinese New Year and other supply chain disruptions. This impacted it in most markets except for Argentina. Xiaomi decreased share slightly, impacted by supply chain issues, but it increased its ASP.”

Market Growth in Latin America Biggest Countries, Q1 2022

Source: Counterpoint Research Q1 2022 Market Monitor

Commenting on country performance, Research Analyst Andres Silva, said: “Most of LATAM’s biggest countries followed the regional trend of YoY declines, except for Chile, which slightly improved. Chile is one of the most stable countries in the region. Mexico was flat YoY, fueled by Chinese brands entering the market and increased competition. Samsung is also resolving its issues with Telcel. Brazilian local manufacturing/assembly improved, but it is still impacted by component supply chain shortages.”

Q1 2022 Market Summary

Samsung retained leadership in all LATAM markets.
Samsung’s volumes declined YoY and QoQ, impacted by the decline in shipments from its Vietnam factory. But sell-in volume still outpaced most Chinese brands, so its share increased YoY and QoQ. Telcel Mexico’s issue with Samsung is slowly settling. Samsung did not have enough supply in the entry-level segment, so it saw a slight YoY decrease in its sales volume in this segment, particularly in Brazil and Mexico.
Motorola’s shipments dropped YoY and QoQ. Its sales declined following a lack of supply due to the Lunar New Year break in China and inventory issues.
Xiaomi continued to grow YoY, though it dropped compared to the previous quarter. It is strengthening its position in the region. But most of its volume is based on the Xiaomi Redmi Note series. It will need to become more aggressive with its entry-level A series to continue to grow in LATAM. Xiaomi is offering aggressive pricing and promotions, but still lacks strong brand recognition. The brand is facing some high inventory issues in its mid-high price segment models.
In Q1 2022, Xiaomi officially entered the Argentina market, but did not immediately make much headway achieving only 1% market share through April 2022.
Since the beginning of 2022, Apple’s supply into the region increased YoY in most of its markets resulting in the brand’s share increasing. Apple is expensive for the region’s average consumer but is considered a desirable brand. So, countries with high ASPs, such as Chile and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, account for most of its volume in the region.
ZTE continued to be the principal provider of entry-level devices with most of its sales coming from <$100 models.
Others brands continued to drop YoY as the Chinese new year and component shortages impact smaller Chinese brands and local brands, especially in the entry-level segment.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It serves major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

+54 91160411221
tina@counterpointresearch.com

Andres Silva

+57 3004929435

andres.silva@counterpointresearch.com

Peter Richardson

+44 7917231934
Peter@counterpointresearch.com

Follow Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

Component Shortages Hit LATAM Smartphone Market Growth in Q3 2021

LATAM’s smartphone market saw 0.7% YoY and 3.1% QoQ growth in Q3 2021.
Motorola’s share increased 3.4% points while Samsung’s share decreased 9.7% points.

Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego – November 29, 2021

The LATAM smartphone market is heating up with the arrival of more players. In the last year, at least five new brands entered the region. Despite this, the market grew only 0.7% YoY and 3.1% QoQ in Q3 2021, impacted by the ongoing component shortages.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said: “For the past two or three years, LATAM has been a highly concentrated market. New brands entering the market are driving this concentration down a few points. A more open market benefits a consumer by providing more choices at competitive prices. This trend will most likely continue as an increasing number of brands see growth prospects in LATAM. The Brazilian and Argentinian markets are the least open in the region, as they require local manufacturing. Therefore, Brazil’s market was the most affected by the component shortages that impacted the smartphone manufacturing/assembling industry in Q2 2021 and further deepened in Q3 2021.”

Lu added, “Samsung’s shipments were impacted by Brazil and Vietnam factory woes. As a result, its market share reached the lowest in the previous seven quarters. Samsung continued to be the leader in the region, but this volume drop allowed its closest competitor Motorola to narrow the gap. Motorola is improving its product availability in the region. It continued to lead the Mexican market while improving its position in Argentina and Brazil.”

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Q3 2021

Commenting on brand performance, Research Analyst Andres Silva said, “OPPO managed to outsell Apple in Q3 2021 to become one of the five top-selling brands in the region. This is the first time that this Chinese OEM, which re-entered LATAM last year, is in the region’s bestseller chart. The brand saw rapid growth in Mexico. OPPO is growing beyond the Mexican market, but it needs to build the branding in these markets, which is more challenging compared to Mexico.”

Market Summary

Samsung dropped almost 10% points in its LATAM share. Its volume decreased in almost every major country in the region except for Argentina and Peru.
Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina were the biggest markets for Samsung in terms of sales volume.
Motorola led the Mexican market and was a strong second in Argentina and Brazil. In all the other LATAM countries, its second position was challenged by Xiaomi.
Xiaomi’s shipments almost doubled YoY. However, its volume dropped compared to the previous quarter. This was the first quarter in the last three years (except the COVID-19-hit Q2 2020) that this Chinese brand saw a QoQ drop.
Xiaomi wants to position itself as the leading 5G brand in LATAM. It launched the Redmi Note 10 5G during the quarter with very aggressive pricing.
Xiaomi is a close leader in Colombia and a strong second player in Chile and Peru. It is focusing on becoming the leader in these three countries.
ZTE almost doubled its volume YoY. Mexico is its biggest market. It is also focusing on growing in Colombia and Peru in the operator channel.
OPPO continued to stay aggressive in Mexico. It has now expanded to Colombia. But here OPPO will have to work on its brand recognition, so it might take longer to make an impact.
Apple’s volume decreased due to seasonality. The iPhone 13 was launched in most of LATAM in October. On the other hand, there were reports of the iPhone 12 facing big shortages.
vivo is aggressively expanding its presence in the region. It is now growing beyond Colombia and Mexico and has officially entered Chile. But it still needs to build its branding in the region.
The “others” category, especially the “Local Kings”, was impacted once again by the ongoing component shortages.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

Andres Silva

Peter Richardson

Follow Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

LATAM Smartphone Shipments Recover With 42% YoY Growth in Q2 2021

Boston, Toronto, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – August 19, 2020

LATAM smartphone shipment increased 41.8% YoY in Q2 2021 but declined 6.5% compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest Market Monitor report from Counterpoint Research. Smartphone demand in the region grew steadily but volume growth was impacted by the ongoing chipset shortages and manufacturing constraints.

The region is still suffering from COVID-19. Only a couple of countries have been able to fully vaccinate more than half of their population. Therefore, most countries are enduring various degrees and forms of lockdown, leading to an economic slowdown. This, in turn, has affected the purchasing ASP (average selling price) rather than the rate of replacement.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said, “LATAM countries’ growth or decline rates varied during the quarter. Brazil was one of the most impacted by component shortages as it has a limited number of brands. On the other hand, Mexico grew compared to the previous quarter, fuelled by fierce competition from new entrants. This led to a larger TAM (Total Addressable Market) in the second biggest market of the region.”

Smartphone Shipment Market Share, Q2 2021

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Q2 2021

Lu added, “The volume of most of the brands grew in double or even triple digits YoY. Samsung was the most affected due to the constraints related to its Vietnam factory. Brazilian manufacturing also had supply issues. However, retailers and operators had accumulated some supplies, softening the drop in sell-through. But sell-in was severely impacted. Still, Samsung remains the leading brand in the region, except Mexico and Peru.”

Smartphone Shipment OEM Ranking by Country, Q2 2021

Motorola gained both volume and share in Q2 2021. It capitalized on some of the volume lost by Samsung due to product constraints in the region. In Mexico, it became the market leader. Colombia was the only country that saw a substantial drop in Motorola’s volume affected by Xiaomi. It remains a solid second player in the region.

Xiaomi saw its highest growth ever in the LATAM region. Its volume more than tripled YoY, aided by Huawei’s decline. Xiaomi is now the third-largest player in the region. It has surpassed Samsung to become the number one brand in Peru, the first LATAM country to make it the market leader. In Colombia, it remains slightly below the market leader, Samsung. But Xiaomi’s LATAM growth might slow down due to increasing competition from other Chinese brands.

ZTE volume and share also increased. The brand is increasing its tie-ups with carriers. It benefited from the product supply constraints in the $100 and below segment and LG’s exiting the mobile device market. LG still has some demand, but Samsung, Motorola, ZTE and others are quickly grabbing its volume.

Apple decreased in volume compared to the previous quarter. This is due to the usual seasonality where its sales volume decreases as it gets closer to a new launch. But still, the best-selling model for the American OEM during Q2 2021 was the iPhone 11.

OPPO is the most successful among the Chinese brands that entered the region during the last year or so. However, almost 90% of its volume is concentrated in Mexico. OPPO is placing resources in other LATAM countries, but it still needs to build its branding there. It was in Mexico for a short period in 2017 and is now benefitting from the brand-building undertaken then.

The comprehensive and in-depth Q2 2021 Market Monitor is available for subscribing clients. Feel free to contact us at press(at)counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding our in-depth research and insights, or for press enquiries.

Background:

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

Peter Richardson

Follow Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

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