New smartphone purchases worldwide are forecast to slow this year, as consumers hold onto older handsets rather than replace them once new versions reach the market, according to a technology research group.
Smartphone shipments are expected to increase 3.1% in 2016, which is down from the 10.5% growth in 2015 and 27.8% in 2014, according to International Data Corporation in its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report released on Wednesday.
Shipments are expected to reach 1.48 billion units in 2016 and rise to 1.84 billion in 2020, but those estimates are down from previous projections made in March for 2016 shipments of 1.5 billion and 1.92 billion in 2020. IDC cited the “slowdown in mature markets and China” for the downward revisions.
IDC said it expects large markets like the United States, Western Europe, and China to see low single-digit growth rates in 2016 while Japan and Canada are expected to contract by 6.4% and 6.9%, respectively.
“In all these markets, smartphone buying behavior is changing in many ways,” IDC said in a statement. “In operator-driven markets the transition away from two year subsidized contracts toward monthly installment plans are slowly taking place. Meanwhile, many retail heavy markets are seeing a surge in the eTailer channel, better known as online marketplaces.”