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IDC predicts cheap Androids to account for bulk of this year’s 1.5 billion units.
The global smartphone market will slow to single-digit growth in shipment terms this year, predicted IDC this week.
According to the research firm, 1.44 billion smartphones were shipped in 2015, up 10.4% on 2014. However, IDC forecasts shipments of 1.5 billion in 2016, up by just 5.7% on last year.
"The trend of single-digit year-over-year growth is expected throughout the forecast with volumes growing to 1.92 billion in 2020," IDC said, in a research note on Thursday. "The market will continue to see volumes shifting to the low end with the aggregate market average selling price (ASP) dropping from US$295 (€268) in 2015 to $237 in 2020."
All the growth will come from Android, IDC predicts. It expects to see shipments of Google-powered smartphones grow to 1.25 billion this year, up 7.6% on last year.
By comparison, IDC predicts iOS shipments will edge down 0.1% to 231.2 million.
It also looks set to be another dismal year for Windows Phone, with shipments forecast to fall by 18.5% year-on-year to 23.8 million.
"It remains unclear how serious the Windows Phone offerings will be from OEMs," IDC said.
