Growth in smartphone shipments is expected to slow substantially this year, as shipments to China, the world’s largest market for the devices, increase by just 1 per cent from last year.
Worldwide, smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 10.4 per cent in 2015 to 1.44bn units, according to the International Data Corporation, falling from 27.5 per cent growth in 2014. IDC announced a cut in its forecast, which was previously for a 11.3 per cent rise across the globe.
IDC forecasts a big drop in growth in China, which received almost a third of all new smartphone shipments in 2014, with an increase of only 1.2 per cent year-on-year in 2015, down from 19.7 per cent in 2014.