Global smartphone sales set to grow slower on ‘cutthroat’ fight
Print Edition
THE global smartphone market will see cooler growth in the next few years, amid “cutthroat” competition that will bring down prices for many consumers.
A forecast by research firm IDC indicates smartphone sales of 1.5 billion units in 2015, up 12.2 percent from the current year’s estimate. That would mean growth falling by more than half from the 26 percent pace of 2014.
The sluggish growth is likely to continue through 2018, IDC said, with the average increase over the period just 9.8 percent.
Significantly, smartphone prices are likely to drop from an average selling price of US$297 in 2014 to US$241 by 2018.
Emerging markets like India will see much lower smartphone prices — US$135 in 2014 and US$102 by 2018.
Smartphone revenues “will be hard hit by the increasingly cutthroat nature of pricing,” up just 4.2 percent over the same forecast period, IDC said.
“The impact of upstart Chinese players in the global market will be reflected in a race to the bottom when it comes to price,” IDC analyst Melissa Chau said.
“While premium phones aren’t going anywhere, we are seeing increasingly better specs in more affordable smartphones. Consumers no longer have to go with a top-of-the-line handset to guarantee decent hardware quality or experience. The biggest question now is how much lower can prices go?”
IDC said Google-powered Android devices will continue to dominate the market with 80 percent of global smartphones and 61 percent of revenues. Apple’s iPhones will represent 13 percent of units sold and 34 percent of revenues, the report said.
“As shipment volume slows, we expect greater attention to shift toward value trends,” said IDC’s Ramon Llamas.
“Apple’s approach with premium pricing ensures a growing portion of overall revenues despite its declining market share.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
