Smartphones sold into e-tailer channels grew 65% in 2015 and are expected to account for roughly 12% of smartphone shipments in 2016, up from just 4% in 2013.
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According to IDC, the market slowdown reflects in part a shift in buying behavior, with more people opting to go through electronic retailers. The International Data Corporation (IDC) expects that we’ll see a substantial slowdown in shipments this year, with 2016 (possibly) ending up at around only 3.1-percent.
Smartphone shipments have skyrocketed in recent years, as a growing number of new customers in developed and emerging markets have been buying their first phones.
Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, also pointed out the rising weight of so-called eTailer channels in smartphone shipments. Similarly, regions described as being “retail heavy” are experiencing a big transition to online marketplaces as opposed to physical stores.
To him, that means, “Consumers are having more say over which brands they want and at the same time able to bargain shop”.
This follows Apple’s first quarterly decline in iPhone sales, and its first overall sales decline since 2003.
The report said vendors are shifting their focus toward trying to ensure that smartphone life cycles aren’t extended further.
In contrast to iPhone, devices running Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google’s Android operating system should see a collective rise of 6.2% in units this year, to take 83.7% compared to Apple’s 15.3% share. The expected decline of 2% year over year is a significant change from past years’ growth and marks a pivotal moment for the company.
Despite a projected slide of 2 percent, IDC said it believes Apple can return to iPhone growth in 2017 on the strength of its early trade-in program, lower cost iPhone SE and potential growth and penetration in the Chinese and Indian markets. By 2020, Apple may hold 14.5 percent of the market, marking a slight drop from its current position.
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IDC said phablets, or devices with screens 5.5 inches or larger, are expected to see double-digit growth until 2019 before slowing to 9.2 percent growth in 2020.
