There are reasons why experts are believing that global smartphone sales will reduce very soon as the year runs out. Some of the reasons mentioned are higher prices and a lack of new buyers. However, it is important to note that this sort of anticipation has never been felt before.
According to Counterpoint Research, the recent growth rate of an average of 16 percent from 2012 through to 2017 will see a decline of about 1 percent in 2024. Shipments of smartphones will reduce to about 1.5 billion, says the research firm.
Some of the other factors that will contribute to this slowdown has to do with the general market saturation of mobile computing device. Also, the slowing global economy, rising trade tariffs, and rising price of smartphones, are all part of the reasons for the postulated slow sales of smartphones. Take the case of Apple’s $1,000 iPhone XS for example, it is making owners wait longer between upgrades, Counterpoint pointed out.
Today, it is apparent that markets have hit saturation point for new smartphone demand. By so doing, they are also dependent on replacing demand. However, buying a more expensive smartphone results in prolonged length of replacements, especially when the owner’s earnings are limited.
This forecast is not unconnected with sales of iPhones that sees growth level though revenue jumped up due to price hikes and new, expensive models of the devices. Apple is selling lesser phones than it used to in previous years. The figures for 2018 have it that the company sold 170.8 million iPhones. This is less than half a percent more than what the company sold about one year ago. Even at that, revenue from iPhone sales increased 15 percent to $129.5 billion.
Other Apple competitors such as Samsung and Google have also tried to raise prices and introduce higher-end mobile device that can sell more expensively. This trend is getting popular and we are yet to really know how the other companies are faring. In 2018, smartphone revenue is projected to rise to 9 percent even as sales fall. No matter what, that will be seen as a stronger growth rate than the 7 percent that was seen in 2024 when sales increased 3 percent.
