Month: April 2022

The smartphone market in China is in flux and different analysts report slightly different details. Shipments for the first quarter of the year fell by 18% compared to Q1 2021, which Canalys attributes to a market correction after the “abnormal” first quarter of last year.

“There is usually a sequential decline in demand and production in Q1, though China’s smartphone market has been underperforming for nearly three years,” writes Canalys Analyst Amber Liu, so these results should not be surprising.

Analyst Toby Zhu warns smartphone makers to plan stock allocation carefully and to be prepared for store closures and logistics issues. The low-end market will be affected the most, so makers will have to focus on mid-range to high-end models.

Right now the component shortage is easing, which is why the analyst advise vendors to focus on improving their distribution channels and garnering customer loyalty. They should also maintain their supply chains and capacity allocations or else they may find themselves facing more shortages once consumer demand returns to normal.

Focusing on individual smartphone makers, Canalys reports that Honor is the biggest brand in China for the first time in its short history with 15 million shipments out of the 75.6 million total, making for a 20% market share, triple what it achieved a year ago.

Apple’s shipments rose too and now the iPhone maker is a step away from the second place. Oppo (including OnePlus) barely managed to hold on to second, but its sibling vivo didn’t fare as well and fell from first to fourth.

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The Realme GT Neo3 was launched today in India, starting its global rollout. Both of the phones editions came are here – 80W and 150W – and its price starts from INR 29,999 or about $390/EUR370.

The event also saw the arrival of the Realme Pad Mini to the Asian country with its 8. 7″ screen and Unisoc chipset.

The price of the Dimensity 8100-powered GT Neo3 is exclusive for May 4, when Realme is celebrating its birthday. After that, the GT Neo3’s 80W charging and 5,000mAh battery version will be INR 36,999 ($485/EUR460) with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.

The 150W variant comes with a smaller 4,500mAh battery, but ampler 12/256GB memory and a heftier INR 42,999 ($565/EUR530) price tag. It will be available in all three colors – Plain Black, Silverstone White, and Le Mans Blue, which is called Nitro Blue in India.

The Realme Pad Mini is an affordable tablet with an ultra-thin body at just 7. 6 mm. It has a 6,400mAh battery that supports 18W charging and a dedicated Realme UI for the Pad interface.

Realme will sell the Pad Mini in Black and Blue in four versions – INR 10,999 ($145/EUR135) for a 3/32GB Wi-Fi-only unit, INR 12,999 ($170/EUR160) for the 3/32GB LTE and 4/64GB Wi-Fi-only models, and finally INR 14,999 ($195/EUR185) for the top 4/64 GB LTE variant. All these options will be discounted by INR 2,000 ($26/EUR25) between May 2 and May 9 during the brand’s birthday celebrations.

The event also saw the introduction of the Realme Buds Air 3 in Nitro Blue color, matching one of the GT Neo3 paint jobs. It will cost INR 4,999 ($65/EUR60), which is a 25% more than the classic Black and White colors.

Madhav Sheth, Realme CEO, also revealed a Realme Smart TV X Full HD will cost INR 22,999 ($300/EUR285) for the 40″ version and INR 25,999 ($340/EUR322) for the 43″ option, with sales scheduled for next week.

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The Amazfit GTS 3, GTR 3 and GTR 3 Pro got a big new firmware update which adds smart reply to notifications, the ability to reject calls via text message as well as several other optimizations. Amazfit GTS 3 gets firmware version 7.42.5. 1 while GTR 3 Pro is treated to version 8.37.3. 2 in the US, Italy, India, the UK, Vietnam, with more regions being added soon.

Amazfit GTR 3 Pro update changelog

GTR 3 Pro gets the added benefit of custom replies to notifications via the Zepp app on Android. Other improvements across the GT 3 range include optimized smart alarm clock reminders, Bluetooth connectivity and overall system stability. In addition to updating your watch firmware users should also make sure they are running the latest Zepp app on their phones.

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The India phone market had a tough first quarter of the year. According to Counterpoint Research, makers pushed 38 million smartphones, which is 1% less than they did twelve months ago.

Feature phones sales between January and March 2022 went off a cliff though, falling 39%. This brings the overall sales decrease to 16%.

The first quarter of 2022 began with a slow start due to the third COVID wave in the Asian country, Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh revealed. The supply chain issues affected all major manufacturers who had to adopt different strategies for dealing with the problem. Some makers decided to expand the supplier portfolio, while others increased local sourcing.

However, the market is likely to remain stagnant in Q2 due to the current COVID situation in China which certainly will not help with bringing production and logistics to pre-pandemic levels.

Realme was the only major brand that recorded a yearly increase in sales, jumping from fifth to third place on the market.

The main reason for the company’s 40% rise is the adoption of Unisoc chipsets which helped with the sales of ultra-affordable devices but Realme was also aggressive in its online promotions, which also helped drive the growth.

Counterpoint also revealed Samsung was the top-selling company of 5G smartphones, while the OnePlus Nord CE 2 was the single best-selling 5G model in Q1 2022. The premium segment unsurprisingly was led by Apple, followed by Samsung.

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Apple has just reported its quarterly results for its fiscal second quarter, which ended on March 26 and is thus confusingly the first quarter of the year (fiscal years are funny like that sometimes). It’s good news, however, for Cupertino, which has posted record revenues for its March quarter.

Apple’s revenue was $97. 3 billion in that quarter, up 9% year-on-year (aka compared to the 2021 March quarter). This resulted in quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1. 52, which you should care about only if you own Apple shares. Apple shareholders should also be aware that the board of directors declared $0. in cash dividend. 23 per share of common stock, an increase of 5%. This will be payable on May 12 to those who owned shares as of May 9.

Tim Cook was understandably giddy at the news, saying: “This quarter’s record results are a testament to Apple’s relentless focus on innovation and our ability to create the best products and services in the world. We are delighted to see the strong customer response to our new products, as well as the progress we’re making to become carbon neutral across our supply chain and our products by 2030. As always, we are determined to be a positive force in the world, in both what we do and what we take away. “

Interestingly, Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed that the Services division of the company set an all-time revenue record this quarter, while revenues for sales of iPhones, Macs, wearables, home products and accessories were all record-breaking too, but only compared to any other March quarter.

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