Has Smartphone Demand Just Quietly Peaked?

The demand for smartphones, globally, has reached its peak in Q4 of 2015 – up 14 per cent since last quarter, and 6 per cent since last year. Those are the results of a new study by market analysts GfK.

However, the increase in this global smartphone demand was not followed up by a similar increase in revenue – the global average selling price (ASP) fell two per cent year-on-year, causing revenues to increase only slightly, 5 per cent year-on-year.

A total of $399bn (£281bn) was made this year.

The emerging Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was the biggest driver, with a 21 per cent year-on-year growth. India was the biggest country in the region, with a growth of 34 per cent in the same period. However, its focus is on low-end smartphones (<$100), seeing unit growth accelerate to 76 percent year-on-year.

“Despite a record fourth quarter – and a strong performance in 2015 in general – there are mixed results across countries,” said Kevin Walsh, director of trends and forecasting at GfK.

“Local factors, rather than regional and industry trends, are increasingly driving markets. Diverging economic trends, device saturation, mass market adoption, politics, social change and even sport have an impact on smartphone demand and prices at country level.”

Looking at the UK and the neighbourhood, growth was recorded in the UK, France and Germany. In Q4, growth was 5 per cent year-on-year. In the low-end segment, there has been a 61 per cent-strong year-on-year growth.

The full GfK report can be found on this link.

Author: Sead Fadilpašic
View the original article here.
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