Gartner predicting single-digit growth rates for 2016 smartphone market

The PC market is shrinking and even the smartphone market is starting to plateau. IDC predicted on the slowing smartphone market earlier this month and now Gartner is claiming the same with significantly slower growth rates for this latest year.

The smartphone world in 2015 grew by 14.4 percent from the previous year and Gartner is estimating another 7 percent from 2015 to 2016 for a total shipment volume of 1.5 billion smartphones. The analytical firm is predicting that smartphone sales will finally plateau in 2020 at around 1.9 billion units.

Gartner research director Roberta Cozza claims that the smartphone market will not grow to the extent that it did in the past 7 years. The most rapid growth took place in the 2010 where the market grew by a record 73 percent. Gartner points to market saturation (90 percent or more in regions like Japan, Asia-Pacific markets, North America, and Western Europe) and the lengthening product cycle of flagship models that now stands at an average of 2.5 years as major reasons for the slowing pace.

With most regions reaching saturation, many manufacturers now have their eyes on India where Gartner research director Annette Zimmermann predicts will soon experience high growth rates. Zimmerman is expecting shipment numbers to reach 139 million in the region by the end of 2016 for a YoY increase of 29.5 percent. Smartphones that retail for the equivalent of $120 USD or less currently make up almost 50 percent of all smartphones sales in India.

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