AFP, San Francisco :
The smartphone market is down but not out, with high prices and other factors combining to chill what had previously been a red-hot sector.
Fresh surveys show global sales had their worst contraction ever in 2018, and the outlook for 2019 isn’t much better.
Still, analysts don’t see the sun setting any time soon on the smartphone era, seen as a must-have device for many people around the world.
“They don’t have a viable replacement yet,” independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle said of the smartphone.
“There is always the possibility to go to wearables or head-mounted displays, but none of those have emerged as a real threat.” Worldwide handset volumes declined 4.1 percent in 2018 to a total of 1.4
billion units shipped for the full year, according to research firm IDC,
which sees a potential for further declines this year Another market tracker, Gartner, said its research suggested some stabilization in the smartphone market at the end of last year, said analyst Werner Goertz.
“Mobile phones are here to stay,” Goertz said, while suggesting that consumers may be waiting for some devices with new features.
The smartphone market is down but not out, with high prices and other factors combining to chill what had previously been a red-hot sector.
Fresh surveys show global sales had their worst contraction ever in 2018, and the outlook for 2019 isn’t much better.
Still, analysts don’t see the sun setting any time soon on the smartphone era, seen as a must-have device for many people around the world.
“They don’t have a viable replacement yet,” independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle said of the smartphone.
“There is always the possibility to go to wearables or head-mounted displays, but none of those have emerged as a real threat.” Worldwide handset volumes declined 4.1 percent in 2018 to a total of 1.4
billion units shipped for the full year, according to research firm IDC,
which sees a potential for further declines this year Another market tracker, Gartner, said its research suggested some stabilization in the smartphone market at the end of last year, said analyst Werner Goertz.
“Mobile phones are here to stay,” Goertz said, while suggesting that consumers may be waiting for some devices with new features.
