Counterpoint’s Q2 numbers for Europe hold a surprise: total shipments hit 35 million, but the pain wasn’t shared equally. Open-market retailers saw shipments slump 11% year-on-year, while carriers dipped just 4%. The budget segment’s collapse — driven by the memory chip crisis hammering entry-level devices — mostly hurt independent retailers. Carriers, which skew toward higher-end phones, barely felt it.
The channel shift
- Apple overtook Samsung as the top brand in carrier shipments: 37% vs 33%
- vivo and Motorola were the fastest growers in the carrier channel
- Counterpoint expects the carrier trend to keep climbing relative to retail
The takeaway: when cheap phones get expensive to make, the market tilts toward whoever sells expensive phones — and that’s the carriers.