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Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Worldwide smartphone shipments decline 0.5% first-time in 2017, expected to return to growth in 2018: IDC

According to the International Data Corporation's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone shipments worldwide have declined 0.5% in 2017 making it the first year-over-year decline in the market since the evolution of smartphones. A total of 1.46 billion devices were shipped in 2017 including both Android and iOS. Furthermore, IDC says that it is expecting shipments to fall to a lower single-digit growth in 2018 and the overall market to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8% over the 2017-2022 forecast period with volumes forecast to reach 1.68 billion units in 2022. Design changes and innovations are expected to be the impactful requirement of the industry. IDC says that technology advances are becoming less about tangible hardware aesthetics and more about components and software. This shift is making a huge difference as smartphones these days are marching towards bigger screens and smaller bezels. There is a chance in 2018 that phablets out-ship regular smartphones, essentially ending the race for bigger screens. With 5G becoming the next big thing, OEMs, component suppliers, telcos, and services companies are looking to capitalize. IDC expects commercial 5G smartphones to hit the market in 2019, ramping up to account for roughly 18% of worldwide shipments by 2022. In terms of OS ...