Apple's iPhone 14 success stems global smartphone revenue fall

iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

Apple is continuing to command the greatest share of revenues from the global smartphone market, with Counterpoint Research now saying Apple "alone makes up for over half of all 5G revenues."

The research firm says that shipments of smartphones, across all brands, fell 12% in Q3 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. But "a steeper revenue decline was prevented by a 10% YoY revenue growth of Apple."

Smartphone revenues still fell YoY, but only by 3%. And at the same time, 5G revenue share "reached an all-time high."

"At over $80 billion, the revenue contribution of 5G handsets reached an all-time high of 80% of global handset revenues," said Counterpoint Research senior analyst Harmeet Singh Walia, "up from 69% in the third quarter of last year."

"In the same period, LTE handsets' revenue contribution fell 10% to $19 billion," he continued. "This shift from 4G to 5G has been led by Apple, which alone makes up for over half of all 5G revenues as over 95% of its phones are 5G-enabled."

"Apple saw a 10% YoY revenue growth and 7% YoY ASP [average selling price] growth in Q3 2022, contributing to an overall increase in global handset ASP," said Singh Walia. "This is thanks in part to the launch of the iPhone 14 series as well as the Pro models, especially from the previous generation, doing well."

Over the same period, Apple's closest rival was Samsung, which saw an average selling price increase of only 2%, "despite an almost doubling of the shipments of its premium Flip and Fold series." Samsung's smartphone revenues declined 4% YoY in Q3 2022.

Apple has not divulged sales volumes or average selling prices in several years.