Smartphone shipments in Latin America surged by 17% in Q3 to 31.8 million units, snapping six consecutive quarters of decline.
Analyst company Canalys said in a statement, the growth was due to improved demand and vendors refreshing their product line-up before the festive period. It noted “this surge in growth materialised following a period of channel inventory stabilisation, coupled with a favourable consumer environment preceding the peak sales season.
Canalys senior consultant Miguel Perez noted the Brazilian and Mexican market “returned to growth” fuelled by improving economic projections, inventory stabilisation and demand recovery. Meanwhile. Chile showed signs of economic stabilisation, “following measures implemented during the pandemic that significantly affected consumption until the first half of 2023”.
Central America and Peru were noted to be emerging as “key markets to new vendors”, where brands such as Transsion, Honor and ZTE saw triple digit growth.
Colombia saw an 11% shipments decrease due to diminishing economic activity in the quarter, linked to a rise in interest rates to stabilise the economy.
“Despite the substantial growth in Q3 and the optimistic outlook for Q4 2023, the mid-to-long-term perspective for Latin America remains uncertain,” said Perez.
“Social and political uncertainties are poised to inject volatility in demand, leading vendors to brace for significant fluctuations in market performance. However, the overarching trend is anticipated to be one of growth as the persistent need for smartphones will drive continued installed base growth over the coming years.”
The senior analyst also noted there will be a surge in device refreshing of low to mid-range devices acquired in 2021, next year.
Samsung was the highest shipping vendor in the quarter with 9.7 million units (31% market share). Followed by Motorola with 6 million (19% market share), Xiaomi takes a podium finish with 5.8 million (18%).
Transsion held fourth place with 3 million units (10%) and Apple rounded off the top five with 1.3 million (4%).
