Things are not going well in the world of smartphones. Even before SARS-CoV-2 entered the scene, there were signs that the industry was about to experience a slump. The golden days of increasing markets and bi-annual upgrades seem to be over, and things have only been made worse because we have been experiencing financial difficulties and supply chain bottlenecks for the last two years.
Because of all of these factors, it should not come as a surprise that manufacturers are cutting down on their production. According to a recent claim published by the Maeil Business News in South Korea, the most successful smartphone manufacturer in the world plans to cut output by 30 million devices in 2022. This news comes when a crisis in Ukraine is further impeding sales. In March, the corporation decided to cease sales in Russia, following in the footsteps of global IT giants Microsoft and Apple.
Even Apple has felt the effects of the recession. Recent reports from Bloomberg have indicated that the iPhone company is scaling down plans to build an extra 20 million phones in the year 2022. Instead, it is anticipated that its numbers will not change much beyond 2021. These claims come after many quarters of iPhone sales that had managed to defy many of the industry’s macro patterns, but it seems as if the firm may be heading back down to Earth, even with the near launch of the iPhone 14.
The state that we are in is the result of a confluence of problems originating in both domestic and international markets. The major manufacturers should not panic since it is quite likely that they will emerge from the downturn undamaged. However, wider concerns still need to be answered about the future of the sector. The most important question is whether or whether this slump comes after a decade in which sales of smartphones skyrocketed and whether or if the introduction of innovative technology such as foldable displays will be enough to jumpstart a comeback to the mobile golden era.
Samsung has chosen not to comment on the claims at this time.