International Data Corporation (IDC) has released a fresh forecast for the global smartphone market. In the coming years, shipments, according to analysts, will grow; although the global shortage of electronic components continues to negatively affect the industry.
IDC expects shipments of smartphone devices to rise 7.4% this year from 2020, reaching 1.37 billion units. In 2022 and 2023. an increase of approximately 3.4% is expected.
In the segment of smartphones based on Apple iOS this year, sales are forecast to increase by 13.8%. Android shipments will rise by about 6.2%.
Fifth-generation (5G) cellular smartphones are the key market driver. Deliveries of such devices in 2021 will rise by 123.4%, reaching 570 million units.
The average price of 5G smartphones, according to analysts, will hardly change compared to last year, increasing from $ 632 to $ 634. At the same time, the average cost of 4G devices will decrease from $ 277 to $ 206; that is, by almost 30%.
By the end of 2022, 5G models are expected to account for more than half of total smartphone sales in unit terms – 54.1%. Which is a big jump.
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“The smartphone market was better prepared from a supply chain perspective heading into 2020; given almost all regions were expecting to grow and vendors were preparing accordingly;” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “2020 was a bust due to the pandemic but all of the top brands continued forward with their production plans with the main difference that the timeline was pushed out. Therefore, we are at a point where inventory levels are much healthier than PCs and some other adjacent markets and we are seeing the resilience of consumer demand in recent quarterly results”.
“The total 5G shipment volume will grow to 570 million units, up 123.4% from last year. China will continue to lead the market with 47.1% of the 5G global market share; followed by the USA at 16%, India at 6.1%, and Japan at 4.1%. By the end of 2022, 5G units will make up more than half of all smartphone shipments; with a 54.1% share”.
“Despite the ongoing issues surrounding the pandemic and the Delta variant, consumers are continuing to upgrade to more premium smartphones this year,” said Anthony Scarsella, research director, Mobile Phones at IDC. “Premium smartphones (priced at $1000+) continued to grow in the second quarter as the segment displayed 116% growth from last year. Moreover, ASPs across the entire market climbed 9% as buyer preferences trend towards more costly 5G models than entry-level devices”.
