IDC Report Sees 2016 as First Full Year of Shipment Declines for iPhone

IDC sees global smartphone shipment growth grinding to a halt in 2016 after a double-digit increase in 2015, the research firm said in a Tuesday report. Smartphone shipments are expected to reach 1.45 billion units, with a year-over-year growth rate of 0.6 percent in 2016, IDC said. Though overall growth “remains positive,” that's “down significantly” from the 10.4 percent unit increases in 2015, it said. But 4G smartphones are still expected to show double-digit "uptake" at 21.3 percent year-over-year growth globally for 2016, reaching 1.17 billion units, from 967 million in 2015, the firm said. Much of the growth is coming from “emerging markets,” where only 61 percent of 2015 smartphone shipments were 4G-enabled, compared with 77 percent expected in 2016, it said. “All signs point” to 2016 becoming the first full year of shipment declines for the iPhone, it said. But “by no means is this doomsday for Apple in this category,” said IDC. With the iPhone’s 10th birthday in 2017, “it is hard to believe Apple doesn't have something big up its sleeve,” said the researcher. But the “challenges of low-cost competition remain, and Google getting into the premium space certainly doesn't make things any easier” for the iPhone, it said.