Worldwide shipments of
smartphones declined 3% this year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Total shipments declined from 1.47 billion devices in 2017 to 1.42 billion in 2018. Shipments in
China, the world’s largest smartphone market, declined 9% this year.
IDC projects a 3% growth in shipments in 2019 with a forecast of 1.57 billion units hitting the market in 2022.
Market growth is expected to be driven by a shift to larger screens and high-end devices.
"What we consider a so-called normal size smartphone has shifted dramatically in a few short years
and while we are stretching the limits with bezel-less devices, the next big switch to flexible screens will test our imaginations even further," stated Melissa Chau, associate research director with
IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "While this category of device is still nascent and won't see major adoption in the year ahead, it's exciting to see changes to the standard monoblock we are
all so used to carrying."