Smartphone Growth in Emerging Markets to Continue in 2019: Counterpoint

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The smartphone market globally declined in 2019
  • Emerging markets will buoy things up, Counterpoint reports
  • Emerging market growth rate is faster than the global market
  • The smartphone market, which is still reeling under the first ever annual decline in 2018, is poised to grow in the emerging markets, a new report by Counterpoint Research said on Friday.
    Emerging markets contribute 59 percent of global smartphone shipments. Excluding China, they make up 32 percent of the global smartphone market.
    "Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that economic growth in emerging markets, during 2019, will be faster (4.7 percent) than developed markets (2.1 percent). This is a good omen for the smartphone market," Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.
  • According to Counterpoint's Market Outlook, emerging markets excluding China (EMXC) will grow faster (6 percent) than in 2018 (4 percent).
    The growth rate continues to be faster than the overall smartphone market, which is likely to see a second successive year of decline in 2019.
  • Growth in emerging markets is a positive indicator for certain OEMs looking to expand in these markets," Pathak added.