If you thought the latest global smartphone shipment numbers were bad, dropping by a little over 3 percent compared to the second quarter of last year, wait until you see how poorly the world's largest vendors performed on the old continent in Q2 2022.
If the newest regional quarterly estimates put together by Counterpoint Research are to be trusted, only around 40 million smartphones were sold in Europe between April and June of this year, representing a huge decline of 11 and 13 percent from Q2 2021 and Q1 2022 respectively.
More worryingly, this is apparently the lowest such total registered since Q2 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was wreaking havoc on so many different branches of the tech industry, and perhaps worst of all, analysts don't expect the "situation in Europe" to get significantly better anytime soon.
The main culprit, of course, remains Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but at the same time, recession looms larger and larger on the horizon of "many countries", obviously contributing to shrinking demand and higher prices for mobile devices (and so many other things).
With all that in mind, it seems outright miraculous that both Samsung and Apple managed to boost their sales numbers in the region compared to Q2 2021, although the explanation is unlikely to please the two tech giants.
Basically, Europe's Q2 2022 gold and silver medalists had hit rock bottom during the April - June 2021 timeframe, improving their scores in Q3 and Q4 of last year before entering another apparent free fall trajectory.
It's true, both Samsung and Apple have sold far fewer smartphones on the old continent in the second quarter of this year compared to the first, only retaining their gold and silver positions due to Xiaomi's inability of repeating its incredible showing from back in Q2 2021.
Bronze medalist Xiaomi, for what it's worth, did manage to improve its figures sequentially, unlike fourth and fifth placers Oppo and Realme, the latter of which can at least be satisfied with posting healthy year-on-year growth.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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