The challenging economic climate continued to weigh heavily on the European smartphone market, with shipments declining by 23% year-on-year in Q1 2023, according to analytical firm Counterpoint.  Inflation, interest rates and energy prices remained stubbornly high, as did the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, prolonging the cautious approach consumers are taking with their discretionary spending. This protracted shrinking of the European market resulted in Q1 2023 being the region’s worst quarter for smartphone shipments since Q2 2012.

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Counterpoint Research’s Associate Director, Jan Stryjak noted in the report that "the cost-of-living crisis continued to pour misery onto European consumers, resulting in a tough start to 2023." One bright spot was Apple gaining 1% market share YoY as presented in second Counterpoint chart below.  

Samsung lost 1% market share while Xiaomi gained 5% due to a poor Q1 2022 showing.

Lastly, Counterpoint Research Associate Director Jan Stryjak added: "We predicted the difficult conditions would get worse before they got better, and this was borne-out by the worst quarter for smartphone shipments we’ve seen in Europe in over a decade. However, we remain optimistic that the economic pressures should start easing in the next few quarters, boosting consumer confidence and leading to a better end of the year." For more, review the full Counterpoint report.