Samsung expects weaker sales in 2022. Cuts production projections by 40 million units

While Apple expects steady sales in 2022, ordering a similar number of iPhone 14s from partner factories as it ordered in 2021 for the iPhone 13, Samsung appears to be expecting a considerable drop in sales. So by the end of this year, the two companies could be closer than ever in terms of the number of smartphones shipped worldwide. However, there’s little chance of Apple overtaking Samsung’s sales.

Samsung and Apple will be within striking distance in sales in 2022

According to The Elec, Samsung previously lowered its smartphone production projections for 2022 from 334 million units to 300 million. The 334 million devices were to be built mostly in its own factories (284 million), while the rest were ordered from manufacturing partners in China. However, it seems that even the 300-unit figure will not be reached this year, largely due to a lack of available components. So the South Korean manufacturer now has sales expectations of 260 million mobile devices.

Given that the company sold 270 million smartphones globally last year, that would be a relatively small drop of only 3.7%. Given that the entire smartphone market declined 9% in Q2 2022, Samsung could see a fairly small drop in comparison.

At 260 million smartphones, Samsung’s sales would be the weakest since the start of the pandemic, with 253 million smartphones shipped in 2020 after managing 296.5 million in 2019. Still, Samsung continues to lead the market. The company currently has 21% of all smartphone sales worldwide, followed by Apple with 17%, Xiaomi with 14%, Oppo with 10% and vivo with 9%.