Global smartphone sales rebounded significantly this year after two consecutive years of decline, but Apple barely maintained growth, according to a survey.
Bloomberg News reported on the 27th (local time) that independent research suggests that it highlights the speed with which Android-based competitors are gaining ground in China and emerging markets.
According to market research firm IDC, Apple and its competitors are expected to ship 1.24 billion units this year, a 6.2% increase, while iPhone sales are expected to increase by only 0.4%.
While Apple remains the revenue leader with an average selling price of more than $1,000, IDC estimates that Android competitors’ prices are only about $295.
This latest study suggests an uneven recovery in the post-COVID-19 slumping smartphone market despite the emergence of AI, Bloomberg News said.
Most of this year’s smartphone market growth occurred in regions with pent-up demand and low smartphone penetration, IDC said.
Cheaper devices from Android suppliers have allowed Chinese brands to better seize these opportunities, and Apple is expected to do better next year.
Strengthening artificial intelligence functions, which is a hot topic by Samsung Electronics, Apple, and Alphabet’s Google, has failed to attract consumers’ attention.
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“GenAI continues to be a hot topic and a top priority for many vendors, but it has yet to have a significant impact on demand or drive early upgrades,” said Nabila Popal, research director at IDC. “More investment is needed to introduce features that will drive consumers to stores and create the super cycle everyone is waiting for,” he said.
Brands like Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies are working to mitigate the threat or impact of U.S. sanctions by investing in hardware and designing their own processors, while also customizing their designs for AI use cases.
On the 26th, Huawei introduced its latest smartphone powered by Chinese chips, and Xiaomi is preparing its own semiconductors for devices scheduled to be released in 2025.
In the highly competitive Chinese market, where six companies compete for the top spot every quarter, large, long-term discounts boosted sales. Although this has had a larger impact than the previous year, concerns about the Chinese economy are likely to remain.
Globally, shipments have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and IDC expects only single-digit growth over the next few years. Prolonged upgrade cycles, market saturation in developed countries, and a rapid increase in used smartphone transactions are considered major factors in the recession.
