Worldwide smartphone shipments expected to further decline by 3% in 2018, will return to growth in 2019: IDC

According to IDC, worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to decline by 3% in 2018 before returning to low single-digit growth in 2019 and through 2022. Despite the on-going US-China trade war, IDC says that it believes that continued developments from emerging markets, combined with potential around 5G and new product form factors, will bring the smartphone market back to positive growth. Smartphone shipments are expected to drop to 1.42 billion units in 2018, down from 1.47 billion in 2017. The YoY growth in shipments will be around 2.6% in 2019. The smartphone shipments are forecast to reach 1.57 billion units in 2022. The China market, which represented 30% of total smartphone shipments in 2017, is finally showing signs of recovery. The U.S. is also forecast to return to positive growth in 2019 after experiencing a decline in 2018. The slow revival of China was one of the reasons for low growth in Q3 2018 and this slowdown will persist into Q1 2019 as the market is expected to drop by 3% in Q4 2018. Furthermore, the recently lifted U.S. ban on ZTE had an impact on shipments in Q3 2018 and created a sizable gap that is yet to be filled heading into ...