Reversing the Smartphone Slump?

Amid slowing global growth and even declining sales last year in the Gulf region, mobile manufacturers are hoping to regain momentum in 2017.

- Robert Anderson

The opening months of the year are always some of the most exciting when it comes to the smartphone market and 2017 has been no exception.

In a relatively short space of time a selection of the world’s top manufacturers have revealed their latest contenders in a race that is becoming ever more fierce.

Global smartphone sales increased just 5 per cent last year, to 1.5 billion units following a 14.4 per cent increase the previous year, according to Gartner, leaving manufacturers scrambling for market share amid slowing growth.

In the Gulf region conditions were even tougher, with overall smartphone sales shrinking 23 per cent, according to consultancy IDC.

Given these numbers, it is no surprise that several manufacturers were aiming to hit the ground running at the end of February, particularly given the poor performance of market leader Samsung following the Note 7 debacle.

The South Korean giant’s global recall, following instances of devices overheating and catching fire, saw it lose its usual top spot in terms of units sold to Apple in the fourth quarter with 76.78 million devices shipped compared to the latter’s 77 million, according to Gartner.

And its decision to delay the launch of its next flagship the Galaxy S8 by a month to the end of March left some analysts perplexed.

“Let’s say it is not to their advantage if they delay this product, they certainly need that new flagship phone to stop the current downward trend,” says Annette Zimmerman, research director at Gartner.

Among the devices that will directly compete with Samsung’s flagship are South Korean rival LG’s G6, Japanese firm Sony’s XZ Premium and Chinese manufacturer Huawei’s P10 and P10 Plus.