According to Electronics Weekly, production of smartphones for the first quarter of 2023 was 250 million units. Quoting figures published originally by TrendForce, Electronics Weekly said this was a year-on-year decrease of nearly 20 percent.
This drop represents both the greatest year-on-year annual decrease but also the lowest quarterly production since 2014. The production decline came despite a slight surge in Q1 production for Samsung thanks to the launch of its Galaxy S23 series – the electronics giant produced 61.5 million units of the S23—a 5.5 percent rise.
Apple, by contrast, experienced a 27.5 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in smartphone production in Q1, delivering a total of 53.3 million units. Apple’s production is projected to drop a further 20 percent in Q2, with smartphone production generally anticipated to drop 10 percent over the same period.
Other major smartphone makers Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo have also seen their production levels drop, the report said.