Global smartphone sales continue on a downward trend since the fourth quarter 2017. Sales fell by 5.6 percent in fourth quarter 2017. For the full year there was the first contraction on record, with the market shrinking by 2.5 percent, in large part because of reduced shipments in China.
The International Development Corporation (IDC) predicts the market will decline again in 2018 by 0.2 percent which would mark two straight years of decline
The global smartphone market was in transition which moved from a high growth spurt towards a phase of long term growth. The adoption of smartphones was nearing its peak in the developed countries, with majority sales being generated from upgrades to a better device.
While the year 2015 recorded the highest worldwide smartphone shipments till date, the rate of growth has been declining.
What could be the reason for this drop when more and more people are becoming aware of smartphones and their usage?
Not a lot of new Technology innovations are coming through which people consider as must-haves and are willing to trade their old device for one that cost more.
Phones have improved, screens and cases are durable, sellers are offering more processing power and smartphones are coming with larger memory capacity.
What this means is that phones are useful for a longer period.
Another factor is the maturing market. Before now, there was high demand because a lot of people didn’t have smartphones, but now, the pool of untapped demand is small.
However, the introduction of 5G is expected to boost demand as consumers seek to get hold of devices that can download a lengthy movie within seconds. In line with this, IDC expects commercial 5G devices to be introduced in the second half of 2019 with a more considerable ramp-up in 2020.
While countries like china has grown its market, there are low smartphones penetration rate in India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Also, consumers seek for improved battery quality which is another factor that can attract consumers.
Despite this decline, Samsung has witnessed a growth in its market share. It increased from 3.3 percent in Q4 2009 to 20.9 percent in Q2 2018, however, apple market share declined from 16.1 percent to 12.1 percent in the same period.
