Last year several hundred million smartphones were sold worldwide, this year it is expected that 900 million units would go to consumers, but in 2017 the number could increase to 1.5 billion. The data comes from ISH iSuppli, a company specialized in analyzing the market of mobile terminals, making a prediction based on the current trend, but also on how the market has evolved in recent years. Practically, in 2017, one smartphone would be sold annually for every 6th person on the globe, and in total by then we could reach 4-5 billion smartphones sold.
The possible slowing growth of the iPhone and the rapid pace of competitive smartphone releases speak to the ferocious nature of the handset business, especially now as the market continues to pivot from a market dominated by lower-end handsets known as feature phones to one that is increasingly smartphone-centric.
To this equation, Apple would contribute 150 million smartphones this year, only 16 million more than last year, so we are talking about an increase of only 12%. Apple is starting to stagnate in a market saturated with mobile terminals and tablets, this being normal, considering that the world economy is not on an upward trend, and consumer preferences have changed, most of them turning to cheap terminals and not towards the high-end ones.
