Global smartphone shipments are expected to grow 11.3% in 2015, which is down from 27.6% in 2014, as per the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
The report says that its latest figures are in line with the research firms previous smartphone forecast of 11.8% growth in 2015. IDC states overall smartphone growth will continue to be slow but many markets will experience robust growth in 2015. The worldwide shipment volumes are expected to reach 1.9 billion units annually by 2019, added the report.
IDC projects 2015 to be the first year in which China’s smartphone growth will be 2.5%, slower than the worldwide market. In addition, Android smartphone growth is also expected to be slower than the worldwide market at 8.5% in 2015 in China. The research firm believes both trends to persist throughout 2019.
“Smartphone volume still has a lot of opportunity in the years to come, but two fundamental segments driving recent years’ growth are starting to slow. As reported earlier in May, smartphone shipments in China actually declined year over year in the first quarter of 2015, showing that the largest market in the world has reached a level of maturity where rapid growth will be harder to achieve. This has implications for Android because China has been a critical market for Android smartphone shipments in recent years, accounting for 36% of total volume in 2014. As Chinese OEMs shift their focus from the domestic market to the next high-growth markets, they will face a number of challenges, including competition from ‘local’ brands.”
said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker
As per the report, Android will have 79.4% of the global smartphone market at the end of this year. The research firm expects Android to show 8.5% growth with 1.15 billion units forecast to ship in 2015. Apple came in second with 16.4% share of the global market. The company shipped 237 million iPhones this representing a 23% growth year-over-year. Windows Phone will have the fastest growth this year with a 34.1% which will give the platform a 3.2% share of the smartphone pie with 46.8 million Windows Phone handsets shipping this year.
Giving details about the forecast the IDC says, iOS will have 14.2% of the market in 2019 and the company will ship 274.5 million iPhones that year according to the forecast. In case of Windows Phone, IDC says that it will see its share of the global smartphone market rise to 5.4% in 2019 and the company will ship 103.5 million Windows Phone handsets shipping that year.