After a period of relative instability, global smartphone shipments are expected to increase by 3% in 2024 with all things having been considered and taken into account. The budget segment in particular was hard hit by the struggling economy, and it appears that it will be seeing a recovery in a wide range of regions including India and the MENA region. In spite of the fact that this is the case this segment is expected to see a 4% downturn this year.
It is important to note that the premium segment is going to see some truly impressive growth as well. It’s estimated that this market segment will see a 17% uptick in shipments in 2024, and as a result of the fact that this is the case, it will be driving much of the rebound that will be seen by the wider industry.
The budget economy segment, which refers to phones that are sold for between $150 and $249, is also going to see an 11% uptick. Apart from budget phones, the worst performing segments in terms of growth will be phones that cost between $250 and $599, which will see a 2% growth rate, and $800 plus, which will see a 3% rate of growth.
Based on what the data is showing, the smartphone industry will continue to see single digit growth in shipments for the foreseeable future. Such trends are crucial because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up bolstering a struggling industry. New OEMs such as Xiaomi are driving some of the growth, with Apple and Huawei helping to boost shipments for premium smartphones as well.
It will be interesting to see if the trend holds, since some companies might not be able to survive for much longer if growth falters in any way, shape or form. Chinese OEMs in particular will want to capitalize on growth at this current point in time since this will make competing with Apple easier than might have been the case otherwise.
H/T: CounterPointResearch
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