Smartphones (European market)

Smartphones (EMEA Market)

Smartphones (EMEA Market)

2022

EU forced smartphone makers to return to easily removable batteries

On December 9, 2022, the European Parliament and the European Council announced an agreement to revise the rules on batteries, taking into account technological developments and future problems. One of the proposed measures is the mandatory equipping of smartphones supplied to the European Union (EU) with removable batteries.

The new rules will cover the entire battery life cycle - from design to end of life. It is proposed to extend the requirements to batteries of all types supplied in the EU: these are batteries for portable electronics, traditional car batteries, traction batteries for electric vehicles, batteries for light vehicles (electric scooters, electric bicycles, etc.), as well as industrial batteries.

Removable batteries for smartphones

Three and a half years after the law came into force, portable batteries in household appliances should be designed so that consumers can easily extract and replace them themselves, the document says. In other words, smartphones, mobile phones and tablets will necessarily be equipped with removable batteries.

In addition, all batteries will receive special labels and QR codes with information regarding their capacity, performance, durability and chemical composition. Under the proposed rules, companies selling batteries in the EU will be required to develop and implement "due diligence policies" to address the social and environmental risks associated with sourcing, processing and trading raw materials. In addition, new batteries sold in the EU will have to contain a certain amount of recycled materials. Strict waste collection targets are also being set to ensure a stable supply of recycled components.^[1]

The EU has approved USB-C as a single port for smartphones. Apple will have to buckle

On June 7, 2022, representatives of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament approved a single solution for charging certain electronic devices. By the fall of 2024, USB-C will become a common charging port for all mobile phones, tablets and cameras in the European Union. The agency is going to force smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and others to equip their devices with a standard USB-C charging port. Read more here.

2021

European smartphone market up 8%

The volume of the European smartphone market (including Russia) in 2021 increased by 8% compared to 2020. This is evidenced by data from Counterpoint Research analysts, released at the end of January 2022. Experts in their study did not indicate the number of devices sold.

According to experts, despite the growth, supplies in the region remain below the pre-pandemic (coronavirus pandemic COVID-19) level, because in 2020 they fell by 14%. The market leader is, Samsung followed by and. Apple Xiaomi

The recovery of the market could have been more noticeable if not for the shortage of components, which affected the situation in the second half of 2021, - said Counterpoint senior analyst Harmit Singh Valia.

European smartphone market up 8%

The study notes increased competition in the European smartphone market. During 2021, the leadership passed from one company to another four times, and sales from some brands turned out to be a record in history.

Analysts are paying attention to the decline of Huawei. In 2021, smartphone sales from a Chinese company in Europe collapsed by 90% due to US sanctions, as a result of which Huawei's market share fell below 1%, and the vendor took only 8th place in the region against 4th in 2020. This Huawei flop has been taken advantage of by other Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme and Vivo.

In the wake of the launch of its first iPhone 5G with Apple support, 2021 began with high performance, taking a leading position in the market with a share of 34%. In February, Samsung released the Galaxy S21 series, which at least initially sold well, helping the company grow by 24% and rise to the top spot. Then, starting in May, Samsung had serious supply problems due to the closure of plants in Vietnam due to COVID-19. This allowed Xiaomi to become number one in Europe for the first time in June 2021 (which was facilitated by good growth in,, and Russia). Spain Italy ^[2]

European smartphone market falls 14% - Counterpoint Research

At the end of February 2021, Counterpoint Research reported that in 2020, the European smartphone market contracted by 14% compared to 2019. The worst month was April, when sales fell by almost 50%, and although the market managed to recover over the summer, the second wave of the pandemic led to another drop in sales at the end of the year.

in Sanctions USA relation Huawei to undermined the possibility of bringing new products to the market, as a result of which Huawei's market share Europe fell from 15% to 5% in 2020. However, this situation has created excellent opportunities for other smartphone manufacturers. Competition To Europe in has been as high as ever, with numerous relatively new manufacturers fighting to grab market share once held by Huawei. Thus, Xiaomi it achieved the largest successes in Europe, especially in and, Spain Italy which provided an overall annual increase in the company's sales by 90%. Xiaomi now hopes to achieve the same success in more profitable markets such as, and. France Germany Great Britain

Smartphone sales in Europe

Apple gave up slightly in 2020, but the decision to delay the iPhone 12 paid off in its own way, with Apple taking a record 30% of the market by the end of the year. Oppo has also made a breakthrough in 2020 through partnerships with Europe's biggest operators, namely Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange and Deutsche Telekom. While the company's sales in the region are still relatively low, its market share has doubled over the year.

The fastest growing brand in Europe in 2020 was Realme, whose sales have grown more than tenfold from 2019, especially in markets such as Italy, Spain and Eastern European countries. But Samsung has had a difficult year. Its sales did not fall as much as the overall market, but Samsung failed to capture Huawei's market share. Sales of the flagship smartphone Galaxy S20 did not live up to hopes, and in Europe it was regularly bypassed by Samsung's own mid-range Galaxy A51 and A71 models, as well as Apple and Xiaomi^[3]

2018

4% market drop to 197m - Canalys

In 2018, the smartphones volume of the European market amounted to 197 million units, having decreased by 4% compared to 2017. This is evidenced by analyst data Canalys released on February 13, 2019.

Chinese manufacturers accounted for 32% of smartphone shipments in Europe at the end of 2018. This figure was a record.

The leader remained, Samsung but shipments of pipes from the South Korean corporation in the region decreased by 10% in 2018 compared to 2017 - to 61.6 million units. In second place is with Apple 42.8 million issued (iPhone a drop of 6% compared to 2017).

Huawei closed the leading top three in the European smartphone market with a result of 42.5 million devices sold, which is 54% higher than sales in 2017. Huawei is followed by Xiaomi and HMD Global.

The political situation that has developed in relations between Chinese companies and the US government has fallen into the hands of European consumers, says Canalys lead analyst Ben Stanton. - The US presidential administration is forcing Chinese companies to invest in Europe instead of the United States. The European market is mature, and the timing of device upgrades has risen, but Chinese brands have room left to displace other market participants. Companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi have offered price competition that has caught rivals by surprise as they use their large amounts of business in a fight against smaller brands in Europe.

The largest smartphone manufacturers in the European market, data from Canalys

Smartphone sales in Western Europe reached 128 million units in 2018, down 8%. This decline was the strongest among the subregions in Europe, and the market size became the smallest since 2013. In Central and Eastern Europe, pipe supplies increased by 5% to 68 million, the Russian market showed an increase of 14%.^[4]

Proportion of residents without a smartphone

Share of residents of countries without a smartphone, 2018

Notes