British consumers may approach the peak of smart phones after new figures showed a large decrease in the demand for new devices across the country.
GfK analysis found that the UK market saw an 11 percent decline in smart phone sales in comparison year, the biggest drop in Western Europe.
The decline reflected a wider global decline in smart phone demand, which fell 2 percent to a total of 347 million units sold in the first quarter of 2018. GfK noted that this figure was not helped by a drop of six percent year-on-year in sales in China, and a decrease of five percent in the United States.
Mixed Fortunes
Across Western Europe, demand was found to be two percent lower than the previous year, falling to 28.3 million units.
However, overall revenues increased 23 percent year-over-year, perhaps reflecting customers turning to more expensive premium devices, such as the iPhone X.
"We started the year with a very different image than the last quarter of 2017, when the smart phone demand records broke, "said Arndt Polifke, GfK's telecommunications expert.
"In the first quarter of 2018, by comparison, there was a year-on-year decrease in global demand for smartphones, perhaps not a surprise since we reached a saturation point in more markets."
"On the other hand, consumers tend to choose higher-priced models because they adopt the latest innovations offered by smart phone brands, and as a result, the average sales price grew by a staggering 21 percent per year to $ 374. This led to an 18 percent growth in revenues worldwide, which is exceptional for an industry that is maturing. "
