Why 5G, foldable phones can’t come soon enough for handset makers as market cools
- Analysts talk of market stabilisation and saturation, and look to disruptive features such as foldable phones and 5G connectivity to perk up sales
- Price may be a factor. ‘People don’t want to spend US$1,000 to replace something that isn’t broken,’ says one, and world’s poor won’t forgo food for texting
The smartphone market is down but not out, with high prices and other factors combining to cool what had previously been a red-hot sector.
Fresh surveys show global sales had their worst contraction ever in 2018, and the outlook for 2019 isn’t much better.
Still, analysts don’t see the sun setting any time soon on the smartphone era, seen as a must-have device for many people around the world.
“They don’t have a viable replacement yet,” independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle says. “There is always the possibility to go to wearables or head-mounted displays, but none of those have emerged as a real threat.”
Worldwide, handset volumes declined 4.1 per cent in 2018 to a total of 1.4 billion units shipped for the full year, according to research firm IDC, which sees a potential for further declines this year.