Mobile phone sales in the world will significantly slow down this year, announced the advisory company International Data Corp (IDC) on Thursday in its updated, lowered forecasts, highlighting economic uncertainty and weaker personal consumption.
According to the new estimates, mobile phone sales should increase by 0.6 percent this year, IDC has calculated.
Until now, they had expected an increase of 2.6 percent.
In 2024, sales had grown by 6.4 percent.
The lowered forecasts for this year signal challenges for manufacturers such as the United States (U.S.) tech giant Apple, which is already facing declining sales amid increasingly pronounced geopolitical tensions and tariff disputes.
IDC expects that sales for the entire year will grow at low single-digit levels.
Despite geopolitical tensions, the U.S. and China are preparing to stimulate sales, which could result in a stronger increase this year than IDC predicts.
The Chinese market is expected to grow by three percent this year, supported by state subsidies that favor devices with the Android operating system.
Sales of Apple phones, on the other hand, are expected to decline by 1.9 percent due to competition from Huawei and economic pressures. Many models from the U.S. giant do not qualify for subsidies.
Demand is expected to be boosted by discounts during the upcoming 618 shopping festivals in China and the introduction of the iPhone 17 with significantly upgraded hardware.
To mitigate the effects of tariffs, Apple is expanding production in India and Vietnam, seeking to diversify production and reduce dependence on China.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened the company with 25 percent tariffs on phones produced abroad.
“Despite unfavorable circumstances, India and Vietnam should maintain their position as key alternatives to China for mobile phone production. However, additional tariffs of 20–30 percent on phones shipped to the U.S. could seriously worsen the outlook for the U.S. market,” emphasized IDC‘s senior research director Nabila Popal.
