Dive Brief:
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Smartphone shipments rose 4.3% to 347.4 million worldwide from a year earlier during the first three months of this year, beating a forecast of a slower increase, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said in a news release. The researcher had estimated growth of 3.6% after a slower 2016.
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The next generation of Apple’s iPhone isn’t due until later this year, but flagship announcements about Huawei’s P10 and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 devices were notable for their emphasis on innovations from prior models. Chinese manufacturers including Huawei, OPPO and Vivo led the pack, IDC said.
- Apple shipments were estimated at 51.6 million units, fractionally better than the 51.2 million from the prior year. Samsung maintained its dominance with a 23% market share even with little to no sales growth. The South Korean electronics giant moved inventory with discounts on its beleaguered Galaxy S7 models to make way for next generation of devices. Huawei’s dominance in China was again evident with a 22% jump from last year to 34.2 million units, IDC estimated.
Dive Insight:
While there has been much discussion of a maturing smartphone market, IDC's numbers suggest sales so far this year aren't as moribund as expected. This is good news for marketers and developers as it means new consumers are still coming into the space while existing ones are upgrading to new phones that typically have the latest new features.
Affordability is a key theme for this year’s generation of phones as consumers need a strong reason to replace their existing devices. China’s market is still in a high-growth phase, but local manufacturers are capturing the expansion more than imports are.
Handset and tablet manufacturers are adding premium-type features to lower costs models that are intended to encourage average users to try a new brand without spending a lot of money up-front, as IDC found.
Consumers in developed markets like the U.S. are more budget-minded this year, and wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile USA are competing for users who are willing to shop around for unlimited data, packaged deals and other perks.