For Apple, Samsung: flip off the cellphone, the party's over? - CNET

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The smartphone market has seen greater days.

The smartphone industry may additionally have seen its closing yr of double-digit increase in 2015, and that may spell challenges for Apple and makers of excessive-end Android phones.

closing yr saw smartphone shipments upward thrust with the aid of 10.4 % from the old yr, IDC talked about in a file launched Thursday. however this year will see that growth price drop to simply 5.7 p.c from 2015.

Mature markets, such as the US, China and Western Europe, have been already mired in single-digit increase for smartphone shipments remaining 12 months. excessive-boom markets, similar to India, Indonesia, the core East and Africa, managed to prove more advantageous.

"The mature marke t slowdown has some grave consequences for Apple, as well as the excessive-end Android area, as these have been the markets that absorbed the vast majority of the premium handsets that shipped over the last 5 years," Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's global Quarterly cell phone Tracker, noted in an announcement.

The smartphone trade has been hit by a illness referred to as "mobilephone fatigue." buyers in mature markets have been turned off with the aid of a scarcity of interesting points in new phones, causing greater of them to keep on with their latest smartphones. at the equal time, mobile carriers are casting off sponsored plans, causing extra customers to buy their phones at the full retail price, placing a damper on earnings of expensive models.

there were some brights spots in IDC's forecast.

Unveiled in February, Apple's new "change Up With Installments" application is anticipated to help persuade greater shoppers to improve. The program allows you t o change in an historic iPhone or other smartphone, apply the cost of that machine to a new iPhone and then pay off that new phone in installments over 24 months.

"by entering this area, Apple can more tightly control the alternate-in choices, in addition to video display the demand for where these completely functioning 1-year ancient iPhones turn out to be," Reith said. "The latter is just as crucial as the exchange-in place because it will supply Apple a strong pulse on areas of excessive demand however possibly much less disposable revenue."

consumers also will proceed to crave large-screened smartphones. Such phones, aka phablets, accounted for 20 % of all smartphone shipments last 12 months, according to Anthony Scarsella, analysis supervisor with IDC's cell phones crew. by way of 2020, that quantity is expected to boost to 32 percent, from 20 p.c ultimate year, for Android phablets and to 31 %, from 26 p.c in 2015, for large-screened iPhones.

Android makers can discover stronger alternatives to promote lessen-charge telephones. In 2015, simplest 14 % of Android phones can charge $four hundred or better. sales margins are additionally thin on more cost-effective telephones. nevertheless, Android's slice of the smartphone market is expected to grow to 85 percent in 2020 from eighty one p.c remaining yr.

basic smartphone shipments are anticipated to raise from 1.44 billion closing 12 months to 1.5 billion subsequent 12 months and 1.9 billion in 2020, IDC projected.

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