Inflation Sent Q2 Smartphone Units Plunging 8.7%, Says IDC

Q2 smartphone shipments declined 8.7% year over year to 286 million handsets, about 3.5% lower than previously forecast, reported IDC Thursday. "What started as a supply-constrained industry earlier this year has turned into a demand-constrained market," said IDC. "While supply improved as capacity and production was ramped up, roaring inflation and economic uncertainty has seriously dampened consumer spending and increased inventory across all regions.” Smartphone OEMs have cut back orders for the rest of the year, with Chinese vendors “making the biggest cuts as their largest market continues to struggle,” it said. Though IDC expects demand to start to recover toward year-end, “the outlook for the 2022 smartphone market will definitely be revised down a few points,” it said. “We continue to believe that any reduction today is not demand that is lost, but simply pushed forward." Qualcomm expects global handset shipments in calendar 2022 to decline by “a mid-single-digit percentage” year over year, said the chipmaker Wednesday (see 2207280003).