Looking ahead, IDC focuses on key markets and the two dominant software platforms to support a moderate optimism calling for “low single-digit growth in 2019 and through 2022.”
Both China and the US are projected to slowly bounce back after a few not-so-great years, while Android should retain and even extend its global lead over iOS in the next three or four years.
Perhaps more importantly, Android smartphones are estimated to boost their average selling prices (ASPs) by a solid 9.6 percent in 2018 to $258, with further improvements tipped through 2022, but at a “softened rate.”
While 5G-enabled and foldable smartphones will obviously need time to achieve mainstream popularity, “larger-screen” devices are expected to become (even more) ubiquitous. According to IDC, 42.5 percent of all smartphones sold worldwide in 2017 measured 5.5 inches and above in screen diagonal, a number that’s projected to grow to 66.7 percent this year, and a monumental 87.7 percent by 2022.
