IDC: Smartphone Growth Rate to Slow in 2014

Smartphone shipment volume shot up over 39% in 2013, exceeding 1 billion units for the first time. That pace won’t be kept up in years to come, however, with smartphone shipment growth slowing to 8.3% in 2017 and 6.2% in 2018, according to the latest forecast from IDC.

2014 will mark an inflection point, and downturn, in growth rate, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. IDC forecasts growth in leading markets including North America and Europe will drop to single digits, with Japan “contracting slightly.” IDC expects high growth rates in emerging markets, which will lift 2014 growth in worldwide smartphone shipments to 19.3%, or 1.2 billion units, up from 2013′s 1 billion. The slowdown will drive manufacturers to lower price points quickly as they seek to unload product. That will make for a challenging business environment, IDC says. The worldwide Average Selling Price (ASP) for smartphones was $335 in 2013. That will drop to $260 in 2014.