2018 Was the 'Worst Year Ever' For Smartphone Shipments (cnbc.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

2018 Was the 'Worst Year Ever' For Smartphone Shipments (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on Sunday February 3, 2019 @10:01PM from the closer-look dept.

2018 was the worst year ever for smartphone shipments, according to the latest figures from research firm IDC. It means Apple isn't the only company fighting to keep people interested in buying new phones every year. From a report: IDC said 1.4 billion smartphones were sold in 2018, marking a 4.1 percent decline for the year in an industry that's accustomed to rapid growth. In 2014, as well, 1.4 billion phones were shipped, which means the industry seems to have regressed about 5 years. Shipments shrank 4.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2018, IDC said. Apple said earlier this week that iPhone revenues were 15 percent lower than last year. CEO Tim Cook said the strengthened dollar, an economic slowdown in China, lower subsidies on phones and its battery replacement program contributed to the drop in sales. Samsung phone shipments declined 5.5 percent and Apple's slipped 11.5 percent during the quarter, IDC said. But Huawei, which was able to capitalize on China, saw a 33.6 percent bump in shipments. Chinese vendors Oppo and Xiaomi also increased shipments, IDC said.

24 of 218 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Well their batteries keep dying. by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-03 22:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

I don't want to buy a new phone because they're not worth the cost. They keep breaking and their batteries die. Why would I keep spending money on these hyped up pieces of garbage that surveill me?
1. Re:Well their batteries keep dying. by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-04 00:12 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I don't want to buy a new phone because they're not worth the cost. My two-year old, second hand phone works fine for my use case and is still receiving updates. YMMV
2. Re:Well their batteries keep dying. by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-04 00:57 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Exactly. The old phone is still working, and the new ones aren't much better. A few more megapixels or an extra camera does not justify a new phone.
  And they are all like. They just cannot innovate. Same form factor, nearly same hw. Nobody has anything extra the others doesn't have. E-paper anyone? DAB-radio? Slide-out keyboard? Nope, they are all the same - and the same as the last 4 years.
  Perhaps those folding screens will be interesting, replacing phone & tablet with a single device. Unless they break easily. But they are not around yet, so . . .
3. Re: Well their batteries keep dying. by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-04 01:03 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They are actually getting worse! Notches? No headphone jack? No SD card? Glued batteries?
  They can shove those 'flagship' pieces of junk back where they pulled them out from!
4. Re:Well their batteries keep dying. by ctilsie242 · 2019-02-04 03:15 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I have a two year old phone as well. Even more ironic, it has a nice feature that the newer iPhones don't... the fingerprint scanner.
  Why spend all that cash for a relatively throwaway item? All buying a new phone does is make the phone makers richer. In previous years where there were actual improvements with devices, like higher IPS displays, fingerprint scanners, faster Wi-Fi and cellular speeds, it made sense to go with a newer phone. However, it will be years before "5G" gets rolled out, and there isn't much the latest iPhone 10xspro-platinum can do that an earlier iPhone can't, other than bouncy poop icons, and a little bit better camera footage.
  Phone makers have failed to understand something: The economy is tightening. People are starting to make sure their job is secure, that they can cover next month's rent, and meet basic needs, should they get laid off. The last thing people are caring about is a new phone, especially when companies are starting to do mass layoffs.
  Want to make a phone that sells? Make a decent midrange phone. Focus on VWs, not Maybachs. People will buy phones, but they are not going to throw $1500 at a new device in this economy. Perhaps make phones with user replacable batteries and other accessories, because people will buy new batteries, but not phones, especially if the economy gets worse.
1754 was not very good either ... by ElRabbit · 2019-02-03 22:04 · Score: 5, Funny

... so worst ever is probably exaggerated here
1. Re:1754 was not very good either ... by arglebargle_xiv · 2019-02-03 23:14 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Does that mean desktop PCs are coming back?
  A few years ago it was trendy to depict the death of the PC, which never happened, it was just a mature market and there was no need to upgrade any more. Now it's cellphones' turn.
2. Re: 1754 was not very good either ... by arglebargle_xiv · 2019-02-03 23:29 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why would there be a resurgence in sales? What most people have now is good enough, there's no need to upgrade any more. That doesn't mean it's dying, merely that the upgrade cycle has been broken.
3. Re:1754 was not very good either ... by AmiMoJo · 2019-02-03 23:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  To be fair the year-on-year decrease in sales from 1753 was 0%, which is lower than 4.1%.
  1999 was the best year, when smartphone sales increased from 0% to NaN%.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
4. Re: 1754 was not very good either ... by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-04 01:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yeah, edit a document on a phone. Show me. And I don't mean cut&paste - write a few paragraphs of text.
  A home need only one 'computer', not a computer per person. Because light games & browsing is now done on phones & tablets. That computer is still needed whenever writing more than a tweet or two is called for. Therefore, computer sales are down - but the computer is in no way 'dead'. Stuppid salesmen tend to call anything 'dead' that isn't growing though - according to such people, 'food' is dead. Except it isn't - food sell as much as ever, and employ lots of people. But of course no increase.
It is revenue that matters by quenda · 2019-02-03 22:07 · Score: 3, Funny

Never mind sales numbers, all Apple has to do is keep increasing the price of new models in proportion to falling sales numbers.
Revenue stays the same, and costs even go down! Shareholders happy. How can the plan fail?
Why is this bad by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-03 22:15 · Score: 5, Insightful

Smartphone tech has matured, so we dont need to upgrade every year or two year. This is a good thing. Why is every shit news site pumping out story after story on this. Is it a really a bad thing when we can consume less and save more?
No killer features. by johnsie · 2019-02-03 22:36 · Score: 5, Interesting

Most people use their phones for messaging, calling people and scrolling through websites or looking up information. That can be done well on even the cheapest modern phones. I think a lot of people are addicted to their phones, but there's not this need to have the latest and greatest anymore as long as the apps run ok.
1. Re:No killer features. by AmiMoJo · 2019-02-03 23:52 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Until recently there was a big difference between cheaper phone's cameras and the high end ones. Now that gap has narrowed considerably, especially due to some really good mid range Chinese devices pushing up expectations.
  The industry is hoping that foldable displays are the next big thing, but so far no-one has demonstrated one that looked much good. They all tend to be a bit thick and a bit naff looking around the hinge.
  The only other thing at the moment is getting rid of the notch. Many phones are going to pin holes now, which are better but still not perfect. Some are going to sliders which seem to work surprisingly well.
  Google gave up on 3D scanning, seems like Apple may have a crack at it but it's not clear what the market is.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:Captain Obvious... by prefec2 · 2019-02-03 23:42 · Score: 3, Interesting

When people only buy phones for replacement and do not increase the frequency of buying new phones nor do new customers appear on the scene, you have a stagnating market. Stagnating markets != growing market => economists get in panic, as growth is required for capitalism (in its present form). That is the concept the post you are answering to is refering to.
Re: Why upgrade? by c6gunner · 2019-02-04 00:56 · Score: 5, Informative

From what I've seen amongst friends and acquaintances, there are only three reasons most people upgrade these days:
1. The battery life has decreased to the point that it's unusable, and they don't seem to understand that you can change the battery.
2. The phone stops working and is out of warranty.
3. They're on a "plan" which amortizes the cost of the phone over several years, it's time for a renewal, and the provider has offered them a "deal" which they think is good.
Personally I just upgrade on a 2-3 year cycle and buy second hand phones which are about a year old. By that point they cost half or less of the original price, and they've been on the market long enough for me to evaluate the relative performance and reliability based on consumer reviews. Plus I can check and make sure they have an active development community on XDA and a way to unlock the bootloader.
Re:Why is this badGood for the customer by Anonymous Coward · 2019-02-04 00:59 · Score: 3, Interesting

Capitalism does not require growth. Bullshit expectations of increased profit revenue requires growth.
Look, I get by on X Euro every year. If I don't increase my profits every year...my god, think of the consequences to the capitalism!
I don't know why everyone is brainwashed into thinking capitalism = unstopped growth and socialism = stalin.... a little of both with expectations of peace and happiness instead of growth and war would make a big difference towards unchecked carbon release.
Of course that's what various hippies since Jesus have been saying, so who gives a shit. The smart phone market is drying up! Fire the lowest paid employees and drive the stock back up!
1.4 *billion*?? by cascadingstylesheet · 2019-02-04 01:06 · Score: 3, Interesting

1.4 billion?? Think about that as a percentage of the world's population. Holy carp.
And that's vs. the whole world population. What fraction of that group is actually the market for what is essentially as luxury consumer product?
This has to be one of the most amazingly successful luxury items of all time.
What should astonish is that it was ever more successful.
Re: Why is this badGood for the customer by c6gunner · 2019-02-04 01:31 · Score: 3, Interesting

However, capitalism requires growth
People keep saying this as if it were self evident, but it's just nonsense. Capitalism tends to create and encourage growth, but there's nothing about it which requires growth.
Re: Why is this badGood for the customer by Kokuyo · 2019-02-04 01:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

Shareholders require growth. That's about it. Now how intrinsically linked are stock exchanges and capitalism?
Refuse to replace the batteries by iampiti · 2019-02-04 01:46 · Score: 3, Insightful

Tim Cook said it himself: Allowing customers to replace the batteries was part of the problem. The obvious solution is for Apple to refuse to replace them while making new phones even harder to open./s
Seriously, this crap of making electronics purposefully hard to repair is a cancer. They should be built to be easily repairable and to last. Warranties somewhat take care of the latter but there's no law to promote the former. It's not only a matter of money but also of e-waste
Re: Why upgrade? by mjwx · 2019-02-04 01:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

From what I've seen amongst friends and acquaintances, there are only three reasons most people upgrade these days:
1. The battery life has decreased to the point that it's unusable, and they don't seem to understand that you can change the battery.
2. The phone stops working and is out of warranty.
3. They're on a "plan" which amortizes the cost of the phone over several years, it's time for a renewal, and the provider has offered them a "deal" which they think is good.
I can boil that one down in to 1 reason.

1. The phone they have is good enough.

Smartphones are now mature. There's no huge advantage to buying a new model because it will only have minor differences. There aren't any more "killer" features to add, most improvements will not be noticed by the user, making fonts slighlty clearer, improving memory management, so on and so forth. There just isn't the impetus to upgrade any more.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Why is this badGood for the customer by ceoyoyo · 2019-02-04 02:49 · Score: 3, Insightful

Capitalism not only requires growth, it requires exponential growth.
Investors, i.e. capitalists, expect a return on their investment, and they expect that return to be some percentage of that investment. A percentage return on investment implies exponential growth. Would you invest in something where you expected to get your principle back and nothing else?
You can maybe imagine some form of "capitalism" where a group of leaders, chosen by some other means than how much money they have, decide how to allocate resources.
Re:Scamsung by jdschulteis · 2019-02-04 03:03 · Score: 4, Insightful

It sure seems like the wonders of modern polymers and composites should allow creation of a phone that can charge wirelessly (unlike metal), survive modest falls (unlike glass), and still provide the "luxury" feel that will convince some people to pay $1000 for a $300 item.