Report: Record-setting sales represents an 8% year-over-year increase
Market analytics firm GfK reports record-setting smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2015; consumers spent some $96 billion on smartphones, an 8% increase over the same quarter in 2014, according to the analysis.
GfK, which based its research on end-user purchases rather than unit shipments from manufacturers, said unit demand increased by 7% year-over-year to 310 million smartphones.
Growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 was up 19% compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The marked slowdown is attributed to decreased demand in China and developed markets in Asia.
GfK is also looking for 4G to gain share this year based on continued aggressive build-out of LTE networks in China. The new report indicates the 4G global handset market passed 50% this year.
“The weakness in China was caused by a significant slowdown in 3G demand, which was not offset by 4G growth,” Kevin Walsh, director of trends and forecasting at GfK, said.
“We forecast China to return to growth in the second half of the year, driven by a continued 4G ramp up. In developed Asia, the year-on-year decline was caused by tough comparison with Q1 2014, when demand was pulled forward in Japan due to an upcoming [value added tax] increase in April.”
Walsh concluded: “We forecast unit demand in developed Asia to grow by 3% year-on-year in 2015, driven by Japan and South Korea, which are expected to return to growth in 2Q 2015.”
GfK researchers are also expecting smartphone demand in Central Europe to grow more slowly than in Western Europe for the first time since 2010 due to the “macroeconomic situation in Russia” impacting sales.
Chinese consumers bought 92 million smartphones in Q1 2015, spending a collective $27.3 billion, according to the report.
The next largest market was emerging regions in the Asia, Pacific and Australia region with 43.3 million units sold amounting to $7.6 billion in the same time period.
In third place, GfK found that North American consumers bought some 42.3 million smartphones for $17.1 billion.
Rounding out the top five are the Middle East and Africa with 39.5 million smartphones sold for $11 billion, followed by Western Europe with 31.5 million units sold for $12.4 billion.
For more information and analysis from GfK, check out their website.
