By the end of 2023, the Japanese smartphone market was down 35%, but Apple iPhones still continue to account for about half of total sales.
It's been 12 years since Apple's iPhone first topped the list of smartphone sales in Japan, and in recent years, it has accounted for between 49% and 51% of smartphone sales in Japan. According to IDC, this percentage number continued to hold in the fourth quarter of 2023, with Apple accounting for 519% market share.
However, overall smartphone sales decreased by 35% to 8.3 million units. IDC said that all four quarters of 2023 saw year-over-year declines, but the fourth quarter was the only quarter in which smartphone shipments surpassed 8 million units.
"Demand, led by Apple, began to improve in the second half of the year, suggesting that the impact of inflation is waning due to a weaker yen and operator inventory adjustments," IDC analysts wrote. ”
Despite the improvement and IDC reporting "strong demand for the (Apple) iPhone 15 series," the shrinking market meant that Apple's sales fell by 6% in 2023. This is the smallest drop among the top five smartphone makers.
With one exception, all ** merchants saw year-over-year declines in the fourth quarter of 2023. Be that as it may, the Apple 51The market share of 9% is higher than that of the other top five manufacturers and all other ** players combined.
Apple's iPhone sells more in Japan than all other competitors (**IDC).
However, Google has gone from 1The 5% market share rose to 10 in 20237%, jumping to third place. This made it the only merchant to see an increase in sales, up 527%.
Masafumi Inbe, Japan market analyst at IDC, said: "The Japanese market has always been an exceptionally strong market for local players. However, as competition in the smartphone market intensifies, it is becoming increasingly difficult for local Japanese manufacturers to compete with global manufacturers in terms of product development and competitiveness, including foldable smartphones and AI smartphones. ”
Among the top five Japanese companies, Sharp ranks second with a market share of 109%。Japan's Kyocera Group and Lenovo, including Japan's Fujitsu, started with 5A share of 4% is tied for fifth place.
Although there is no direct comparison, Japan in the fourth quarter of 2023 3The 5% decline is at least better than China's 7% year-on-year decline in the first six weeks of 2024.