Smartphone revenue will remain flat in 2016 as market growth shifts to budget handsets
Although 2016 has already seen some excellent smartphone announcements, the mobile industry won't be having it easy this year. Market growth froze in 2015, and analysts say the difficult situation isn't likely to budge in 2016. According to GfK's latest Quarterly Smartphone Tracker report, revenues from smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 dipped slightly to $115.2 billion, down 0.2 percent from a year ago.
the mobile industry won't be having it easy this year.
Ironically, the same period saw a record number of handsets sold – 368 million units, up 6% year over year. However, commoditization made the average selling price tumble 6% in the fourth quarter. Even Apple projects a year of little to no growth in its iPhone business, and has had its stock fall by 26% since last summer.With handset revenues falling, we saw mobile technology vendors extend their focus to accessories and smart gadgets, such as virtual reality headsets, connected appliances, and fashionable wearables. LG is betting big on the innovative "Friends" ecosystem of accessories for the LG G5, while HTC has racked up millions of dollars in pre-orders of its Vive virtual reality headset.
via VentureBeat
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