Worldwide smartphone shipments are set to rebound to grow 4.2 percent in 2017, compared to the market’s lowest year-on-year return of 2.5 percent in 2016, according to the latest report from IDC. Shipments are forecast to reach 1.53 billion units in 2017 and grow to 1.60 billion in 2018 and 1.77 billion in 2021, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 percent over the 2016-2021 forecast.
In terms of platforms, IDC expects Android to continue to dominate, accounting for around 85 percent of smartphone shipments and Apple making up the rest. For Android the biggest markets driving volume continue to be the Middle East & Africa, Central & Eastern Europe and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), with average selling prices (ASP) in the USD150-USD200 range.
For iOS, 2016 was the first time Apple experienced a year-on-year decline in shipments with iPhone volumes falling 7.0 percent, but the report predicts a strong rebound in iPhone volumes in 2017 – rising 4.9 percent year on year – following the launch of its next set of devices with many rumoured technical changes as well as a strong push for the device’s tenth anniversary.
Apple continues to do roughly 50 percent of its iPhone volume between North America and Western Europe, but Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) continues to grow as a share of Apple's volumes mainly driven by continuous demand in China. That region accounted for roughly 30 percent of 2016 iPhone shipments and is expected to grow to about 36 percent in 2021, said IDC.
