Smartphone growth pegged at 10.4 percent in 2015

According to research from IDC, new mobile phone shipments are expected to continue growing in 2015, but this is seen to moderate quite a bit from 2014. Last year, smartphone shipments grew by 27.5 percent; in 2015, growth is expected to be slower at 10.4 percent, accounting for 1.44 billion total units shipped. Part of the reason for this is the slowdown in the domestic China market, but growth in other developed markets is expected to decline as well.

On the other hand, India and other developing markets are expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. According to Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC, "India has captured a lot of the attention that China previously received and it's now the market with the most potential upside. The interesting thing to watch will be the possibility of manufacturing moving from China and Vietnam over to India. We've begun to see this move as a means to cut costs and capitalize on financial benefits associated with localized India manufacturing. It is the local vendors like Micromax, Lava, and Intex that will feel the most pressure from international competition within its market." Companies like Xiaomi and Lenovo are already beginning to manufacture in India on the back of companies like Flextronics and Foxconn making significant investments in assembly lines there.

The company has forecast total shipments out to 2019, when the number of smartphones shipped globally is expected to reach 1.9 billion annually. This represents a growth rate of about 5.1 percent annually between 2015 and 2019. Overall, operating systems are expected to keep their shares relatively stable, with Windows Phone and other operating systems eating into iOS share slightly and Android retaining its massive market share lead.

Demand for larger smartphones with screens larger than 5.5in is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. Over the past year, phablets with screens between 5.5in and 6in are expected to ship about 84 percent more units than they did last year. In addition, the growth areas – developing markets like India or Brazil – will remain very price sensitive, so large-screen phablets under $200 will remain both popular and very competitive.