IDC: Smartphone market has virtually stopped growing

The smartphone market has virtually stopped growing, claims analyst firm IDC. In the past quarter, all manufacturers together are said to have sold 0.2 percent more smartphones than in the same period last year.

Stopping the growth in smartphone shipments is a prediction that analysts have been making for years without it coming true, but now that the market in China is no longer growing as fast as before, the stretch is really out, says IDC. In developed countries, almost everyone already has a smartphone, so only people who are ready for a new smartphone buy it and no users are added.

In addition, IDC attributes the limited growth to the disappointing deliveries of the two market leaders. Samsung’s shipments fell 0.6 percent, despite the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge doing well in March. Apple delivered 16 percent fewer iPhones.

There have been a few changes at the top of the market. Xiaomi and Lenovo, owner of Motorola, have fallen out of the top five, both with shipments of under 14.5 million smartphones in the first months of this year. Instead, Oppo and Vivo are now in the top five. It is unknown whether IDC will add OnePlus’s deliveries to Oppo’s, as both manufacturers are related. Brands well-known in the Benelux such as LG, Sony, HTC, BlackBerry and Microsoft have been out of the global top five for some time now.