What you need to know
- Global smartphone shipments are expected to grow 7.4% in 2021.
- iPhone growth is expected to double that of Android for the year.
- Premium smartphone shipments grew 116% in the last year.
The smartphone market is expected to continue its growth way through 2023.
According to new data from IDC, global smartphone shipments are expected to grow 7.4% this year, followed by 3.4% growth in 2022 and 2023. According to IDC's data, iPhone shipments are expected to double the pace of Android in 2021.
Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said that overall smartphone supply has remained resilient despite the global chip shortage due to the foresight of some of the top brands in the industry.
"The smartphone market was better prepared from a supply chain perspective heading into 2020 given almost all regions were expecting to grow and vendors were preparing accordingly. 2020 was a bust due to the pandemic but all of the top brands continued forward with their production plans with the main difference that the timeline was pushed out. Therefore, we are at a point where inventory levels are much healthier than PCs and some other adjacent markets and we are seeing the resilience of consumer demand in recent quarterly results."
Anthony Scarsella, research director, Mobile Phones at IDC, said that the premium smartphone market (phones that cost over $1000) continues to grow, so much so that the segment posted 116% growth over last year.
"Despite the ongoing issues surrounding the pandemic and the Delta variant, consumers are continuing to upgrade to more premium smartphones this year. Premium smartphones (priced at $1000+) continued to grow in the second quarter as the segment displayed 116% growth from last year. Moreover, ASPs across the entire market climbed 9% as buyer preferences trend towards more costly 5G models than entry-level devices."
This is great news for Apple, who is expected to announce the iPhone 13 lineup at a virtual event that is rumored to occur on September 14. Both the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are expected to cost more than $1000 if pricing on those models lines up with previous Pro model offerings.
