Growth of smartphone shipments in 2015 has slowed

According to IDC, smartphone shipments in 2015 are still increasing in comparison to previous years, but the growth is lower than ever. The total shipments of smartphones this year according to the firm will be somewhere around 1.43 billion, which is only a 9.8% growth over the number of shipments last year.

Many believe the reason for the slowdown in growth has to do with China's struggling economy, and the transition to a replacement market could also be a huge contributing factor. In 2014 the growth for smartphone shipments was up 27% from 2013, which shows just how much the growth in 2015 has lessened. IDC believes that some areas may help increase shipments and sales by purchasing lower-tier smartphones which tend to need replacing after less than the two year expectation.

IDC also reported that it expects Android shipments grow by 9.5% and Apple smartphone shipments to increase by 17.5%. Though China's slowdown in sales could be hurting the two, both are looking at taking advantage of other emerging markets, and as Apple sets its sights on India, these areas may help bolster sales. Windows Phones are expected to decline by 10.2% despite Microsoft's continued commitment to improving them with Windows 10 and some other new features.

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