Global smartphone shipments fell for the first time as “iPhone fatigue” dragged down sales for Apple’s once-unstoppable franchise amid a general weakening in the market for new devices.
After close to a decade of stellar growth, analysts say a tipping point in the smartphone market has been reached as most people already have a phone, phablet or tablet device.
Applepopularised the smartphone market with the launch of the first iPhone in 2007. The US group said this week that it had suffered a 16 per cent fall in unit sales in the first quarter and warned that the next quarter could be even worse, bringing to an end the company’s remarkable period of growth.