• by Chuck Martin , September 9, 2019

Smartphone shipments are projected to show signs of market recovery in the second half of 2019 and into 2020, pushing the category back into positive territory.

Shipment volumes are expected to be nearly flat in the second half of this year but commercial deployments of the new 5G speeds are projected to ramp up in 2020, according to the study by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Smartphone shipments are projected to grow 2% in 2020.

"Consumers continue to hold their devices for lengthier times making sales difficult for the vendors and channels alike,” stated said Sangeetika Srivastava, senior research analyst with IDC's worldwide mobile device trackers. “However, expectations of aggressive promotions and offers in the second half of 2019 aimed at helping to clear out any channel inventory and get consumers excited about the next wave of smartphone technology should steer the market back toward renewed growth." 

IDC expects 5G devices shipments to reach 9% of smartphones shipped in 2020, accounting for 124 million devices.