Western Europe Smartphone Sales Lag But Global Sales Rise 6%, GfK Reports

Global Q4 smartphone sales reached 391 million units, up 6 percent year on year, GfK reported Wednesday. Western Europe was the only region to see negative growth with unit sales down 4 percent year on year to 38.6 million and dollar sales off by a percentage point to $16.2 billion. North American unit sales rose 3 percent to 58 million and dollar sales advanced 5 percent to $22.9 billion, it said. Following a dip in Q3 last year, North America experienced a turnaround in demand in Q4, driving by operator promotions and flagship device launches during the holiday season, said the research company. It forecasts that tough competition among North American carriers will drive marginal growth in smartphone demand of 1 percent year on year to 193.4 million units in 2017. Central and Eastern Europe had the steepest rise in the quarter, at 16 percent, posting unit sales of 24.2 million, for $5.6 billion in revenue. China led all smartphone sales with 118.9 million, up 12 percent, grossing $36.9 billion, it said. Smartphone demand is expected to remain stable even in saturated markets this year, said analyst Arndt Polifke, citing their relevance in developed markets for innovations such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smart home functionality, mobile payments and mobile health. Polifke said that developing regions such as the Middle East/Africa and emerging Asia “have yet to mature and as such still have significant potential for growth, leading to a solid growth outlook for smartphone demand in 2017."