According to SamMobile, which quotes a claim from the Korean publication Maeil Business News, Samsung is purportedly going to reduce the number of smartphones it intends to manufacture in 2022 from 310 million to 280 million.
The information comes from a report. In absolute terms, there is still a very large number of phones; nevertheless, when compared to the company’s original aim, this represents a significant reduction. It would appear that some manufacturers are adopting a strategy that involves preparing for the economy to deteriorate worse before it improves.
A similar report that was published on Wednesday stated that Apple would also build fewer phones than the 240 million phones that analysts expected Apple to produce — a minor but noticeable 20 million shortfall down to the 220 million iPhones that were released the previous year.
This report identified a wide variety of global variables, including geopolitical shifts, inflation, and exchange rate instability, in addition to the component shortages and COVID disruption that have afflicted the technology industry since the epidemic began in early 2020.
According to reports, the decreased production targets will have an effect on phones across the board, from entry-level models to high-end flagships. It may seem counterintuitive that the company would reduce the production of its less-priced phones given the current economic climate; wouldn’t more people be interested in purchasing those phones at this time?
People who are in the market for low-end phones might not want to buy a new one unless they absolutely have to, and those who have high-end phones would probably be better off just keeping them for an extra year or two. However, it makes sense when you consider that the alternative is just not buying a phone at all.