iOS Growth Stalls in 2024 Amid Global Smartphone Market Rebound [Report]

The worldwide smartphone market experienced strong growth of 6.2% year-over-year in 2024, reaching shipments of 1.24 billion units, according to a new report from IDC. Despite this, iOS is only expected to grow 0.4% this year.

This strong growth follows two years of steep declines and is fueled by pent-up demand for device upgrades. While 2024 marks a strong rebound, growth is expected to slow to low single digits from 2025 onward, with a 2.6% CAGR (2023-2028). Contributing factors include increasing smartphone penetration, lengthening refresh cycles, and headwinds from rapidly growing used smartphone market.

Notably, IDC doesn't see AI as having been a driver of sales in 2024...


"While GenAI continues to be a hot topic and top priority for many vendors, it is yet to impact demand significantly and drive early upgrades." said Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "While we continue to believe GenAI will revolutionize the user experience in the years to come, more investments are needed to increase consumer awareness and introduce a 'must have' feature that will rush consumers to the store and create that super cycle which everyone is waiting for. For now, we expect GenAI smartphones will take their place in premium flagship devices and keep moving down in price tiers to rapidly grow to 70% of the smartphone market by 2028."

IDC says growth in the overall smartphone market was driven primarily by Android devices which surged 7.6% year over year. While Apple saw growth of just 0.4% for the year, the company is expected to rebound next year with growth forecasted at 3.1%.

Rapid Android growth of 7.6% year-over-year focused in APeJC, Latin America, Middle East and Africa and China, primarily in low end devices, is pivotal to the 6.2% growth this year. In contrast, iOS is expected to grow a modest 0.4% in 2024. Despite record breaking performance in emerging markets like India, Apple faces challenges in large markets like China, US and Europe. Looking ahead to 2025, The tides will turn as iOS is expected to grow by 3.1% year-over-year, outpacing Android's forecasted 1.7% growth over the same period.

More details in the full report linked below...


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