According to the International Data Corporation ’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the New Zealand smartphone market declined by 4.2% year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2023 (1Q23), shipping 336,000 units. Apple remains in second place when it comes to market share.
The iPhone maker sold 124,000 smartphones in 1Q23 for 36.9% market share. That compares to sales of 135,000 and 38.5% market share in 1Q22. Samsung is New Zealand’s smartphone leader with sales of 149,000 and 44.3% market share in 1Q23.
Overall, consumer demand remained stagnant due to uncertainty surrounding the upcoming budget and the 2023 general elections, according to IDC. Consumers are also unnerved by the talk of recession, high inflation and increasing interest rates, the research group adds. The increasing cost of living is not helping the situation, with higher prices for housing, food and transport leaving less money in hand for household items and electronics, notes IDC.
“The start of 2023 was as expected, with price and budget on the mind of consumers when purchasing electronics,” said Zachary Candy, Lead Analyst, Mobile Phones Research at IDC New Zealand. “A shift was seen towards more premium devices in 1Q23, with large shipments of Apple’s iPhone 14 series and the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S23 series models helping to maintain a high average selling price (ASP) for the New Zealand smartphone market,” adds Candy.
