According to the latest forecast by Counterpoint Research, only 6% more smartphones will be shipped this year than last year, rather than 9% as previously predicted. In total, 1.41 billion devices will be shipped in a year. Counterpoint’s previous forecast was 1.45 billion.
The industry has been set to take off on a strong recovery this year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the market hard in 2020. At the end of last year, smartphone makers placed large orders for components. The deferred consumer demand really supported the market in the first quarter of this year. However, already in the second quarter, manufacturers were faced with a shortage of components. According to analysts, only 80% of the requested volumes of key components were received, and the situation seems to only get worse in the third quarter. Some smartphone makers claim that their orders are only 70% fulfilled, which poses a lot of problems.
A semiconductor shortage hit the broader electronics market as early as Q4 2020, but smartphone makers have been able to delay the blow for a while with additional inventory of the most valuable components, including processors and camera sensors. Now stocks are running out, and semiconductor manufacturers are unable to meet the growing demand.
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