​After years of growth, smartphone sales fell worldwide in 2022, as well as in Europe, with around 3.5 million units of all brands sold in Romania. In an interview with HotNews.ro, Tiberiu Dobre. the head of the mobile division of Samsung Romania gave some data about the trends in the phone market.

“The 2022 market brought an increase in the value of sales in Romania, this was a significant increase, especially since premium phones represent an increasing share of the total number of phones sold year by year. We are not pessimistic about 2023 and believe that the number of units will decrease by 3-5%, but in terms of value, there will probably be an increase due to the spread of premium phones”, says Tiberiu Dobre.

How many phones of all brands do Romanians buy per year? There is no official figure, but Tiberiu Dobre says the figure is somewhere around 3.5 million units. Compared to 2021, there was a slight decrease in volumes, especially in the first half of the year, after which the situation stabilized.

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More than 1.2 billion phones are sold annually in the world, and approximately 180-190 million units are sold in Europe. Globally, last year saw the biggest drop in sales since smartphones have been around

In terms of value, premium phones, i.e. those costing more than €600, account for more than half the cost of the local market. Samsung’s Tiberiu Dobre says that in terms of value, these premium phones account for 53% of the market, and this share could rise to 55% this year.

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He also says that we can also talk about a new segment, the super-premium, which is getting bigger and bigger: we are talking about phones over 1,000 euros, where sales are growing in volume.

How often do Romanians change phones? A Samsung representative says the latest data is 2 years and 9 months – 2 years and 10 months. “We’re talking about an average here: there are also people who change their phones every year because they like the technology available, but there are also people who keep them for 3-4 years and make the most of their investment in this equipment. “

People are keeping phones on average longer than they did a few years ago for a number of reasons: the devices work well, the software can be updated for years, and in some models, people choose to go to a service center for a battery replacement.

IDC data indicates that the average number of smartphones in the world changes every 3 years and 4 months.

Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S23 flagship phones on February 1, and among the new features are Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, larger batteries on two models and a 200-megapixel camera on the Ultra model. The less good part is that the prices have gone up compared to the Galaxy S22 models.

Samsung occupies about half of the local smartphone market, achieving significant sales, especially in the entry-level segment, where phones cost less than 250 euros. The Entry segment also declined last year in terms of sales.

According to IDC, last year Samsung occupied 20% of the market, Apple – 17%, Xiaomi – 14%.

For Europe, the latest data from Counterpoint indicates a share of 33% for Samsung, 23% for Xiaomi and 21% for Apple. Compared to three years ago, there have been some changes: Huawei’s share has fallen sharply, but brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, realme and Oneplus have grown significantly.