As 2023 draws to a close, the statistical work on the global smartphone market has begun. According to the 2023 Q3 global smartphone shipment data released by Canalys, vivo failed to maintain its position in the top five and was surpassed by Transsion. Vivo is doing well in the domestic market, but it is facing challenges in overseas markets, especially in the Indian market and the patent war in the European market. These factors have led to the impact on vivo's shipments in the global market, and the plight in overseas markets has become the main reason for vivo's global ranking decline.
Vivo's lag in the global market has attracted market attention. In terms of shipments, vivo has always performed relatively well in the domestic market, even in the second quarter of this year with 17The 7% share won the top 1 in domestic shipments. Vivo's product line is also constantly advancing, iterating from the X90 series to the X100 series, and the high-end models are steadily advancing, as well as the new mid-range vivo S18 series with a good reputation, as well as the launch of the very affordable 512GB mobile phone vivo Y100i and so on. In addition, vivo's sub-brand iQOO also has a good performance in the cost-effective market. These models provide vivo with good competitiveness in the domestic market, but will not be quickly surpassed by competitors.
However, vivo's performance in overseas markets has not been satisfactory. Judging from the 2023 Q2 and Q3 global smartphone shipment rankings announced by Canalys, vivo is overwhelmed by Transsion. Transsion's shipments in the global market in the past two years can be described as a "dark horse", the whole brand focuses on emerging overseas markets such as Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, with 26 million units in the third quarter, accounting for 9% of the market share, while vivo only has a 7% market share of about 21 million shipments, of which China alone contributed 10.4 million units and nearly 50% of the shipments.
Vivo's predicament in overseas markets is mainly due to the suppression of the Indian market and the patent war in the European market. As early as 2014, vivo started its globalization strategy, and has opened up many overseas markets such as India, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Especially in the Indian market, vivo has achieved good results, but in July 2022, India's Enforcement Directorate raided vivo and other related companies at 44 locations across the country, claiming to investigate whether they were engaged in money laundering activities. In October 2023, India's Financial Crime Fighting Agency detained an executive of Chinese smartphone maker Vivo in India, accusing him of money laundering. vivo responded that it strictly abides by local laws and regulations in India and will take all feasible legal measures to respond. This incident has undoubtedly hindered vivo's development in the Indian market.
In addition, vivo is also facing catastrophic challenges in the European market. Since 2020, vivo has begun to target the European market and invested a lot of resources in marketing, such as naming the European Cup. In the end, it won a 1% market share in the European market, which is a discerning brand, and the future looks bright. However, patent giant Nokia took vivo to a German court in 2022, claiming that vivo infringed on a large number of its patented technologies, including 9 standard essential patents (SEPs) and 5 implementation patents, and demanded that vivo be banned locally. In April this year, the Mannheim court in Germany issued a judgment on Nokia's patent infringement case against vivo, and vivo lost the case. Subsequently, vivo Germany's official website emptied all products, and it seems that it has withdrawn from the German market. Not only that, vivo has also faced complaints from Nokia in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries, which have made vivo's overseas market difficult.