Bad News All You Global Device Fans: Market Expected To Decline For Second Year In A Row

According to a research report by Gartner, mobile phone shipments for 2016 is expected to fall 1.6 percent. In addition, shipments of PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones are expected to dip 3 percent this year and mark the second consecutive year of declines.

Smartphone Market

According to Gartner, the smartphone market is still growing but at a slower rate compared to past years. As a whole, 1.5 billion units are expected to be shipped in the year.

Android devices will continue to perform well as Chinese vendors continue creating compelling devices at lower prices points. On the other hand, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is expected to see a weaker year-over-year volume performance.

However, Gartner's 2017 outlook is more optimistic.

"We expect the market for premium smartphones to return to 3.5 per cent growth in 2017, as stronger replacement cycles kick in and in anticipation of a new iPhone next year, which [are] expected to offer a new design and new features that are attractive enough to convince more replacement buyers," said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

Related Link: For The First Time Ever, Google Will Battle The iPhone

PC Market

The PC market is on track for an 8 percent decline in 2016 but is expected to bottom out as the effect of currency deprecation is diminishing.

"The second quarter of 2016 was the first since the second quarter of 2015 least impacted by currency depreciation," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Regions such as Western Europe, where the Euro depreciated significantly in 2015 and PC prices increased, finally showed flat market growth (-0.9 percent) in the second quarter of 2016. This follows four consecutive quarters of decline."

The report also noted that the inventory of Windows 8 PCs have now been cleared and large businesses in mature markets are looking to switch over to Windows 10 through 2018. In addition, affordable hardware and new virtual reality content will "enable consumer PC buyers to upgrade in order to experience immersive offerings."

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