Users are beginning to keep phones for longer, leading the smartphone market to have its biggest fall in history.
The global smartphone market fell by nine percent in a year this quarter. Global smartphone shipments fell year-on-year from to 400.2 million from 438.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“It was the biggest annual fall in smartphone history,” said Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics.
“The shrinkage in global smartphone shipments was caused by a collapse in the huge China market, where demand fell 16 percent annually due to longer replacement rates, fewer operator subsidies and a general lack of ‘wow models’.”
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported a one percent drop in overall iPhone unit sales in the first quarter. The decline has been offset by the increasing cost of new models.
The tech giant fell three million short of expectations, leading to a double take from investors.
“It’s up to investors what things they would like to focus on,” Apple’s chief executive said. “I have long believed that a 90-day clock on unit sales is a very surface way to view Apple. The far bigger thing is to look over a long period of time.”
Following Apple admitting to affecting the battery life and software performance in ageing devices, the tech-giant is now offering low-cost battery replacements for models.
Allowing consumers to hold onto devices for longer is a contributing factor to the apparent slowing smartphone market.
Following a poor demand for the new iPhone X, Apple slashed the production of the new model – causing shares in the group to drop.
The drop in sales is related to the phone’s high price and poor reception by consumers. On top of this, troubles caused by the incorporation of the new OLED panels led to some delays in the manufacturing process.