According to recent forecasts from IDC, the smartphone market will grow by 6.2% in 2024. Good news for the industry which, over the previous two years, experienced a significant decline in smartphone volumes. shipping. However, this growth forecast for 2024 would be mainly attributed to Android smartphone sales, outside of Europe and North America.
Apple looking for growth?
Furthermore, while Android smartphone shipments are expected to grow by 7.6%, iPhone shipments will only increase by 0.4% in 2024. “Despite record performance in emerging markets like India, Apple faces challenges in larger markets, such as China, the United States and Europe,” explains IDC. However, the analysis firm also indicates that the situation could be reversed as early as 2025, with growth of 3.1% for the iPhone and 1.7% for Android smartphones.
Moreover, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Apple already has a well-defined plan to boost its sales, starting next year. Of course, Apple Intelligence should help increase iPhone sales, since this feature is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and 2024 models. But on top of that, the firm would also intend to offer revolutionary new designs to boost sales in the coming years.
An iPhone Air, then a folding iPhone?
As early as next year, according to numerous rumors, Apple should offer a new iPhone with a revolutionary design. Indeed, instead of launching an iPhone 17 Plus in September, the firm would instead offer an iPhone 17 Air. This model should have a different design from what the firm has offered in recent years and above all, it would be an extremely thin iPhone. And the good news is that according to the WSJ, this iPhone Air could cost less than the iPhone 17 Pro.
But that’s not all, since the company is also preparing a folding iPhone. The first version of this folding iPhone could arrive as early as 2026. Unfolded, this device would have an even larger screen than that of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
- Android smartphone shipments expected to grow 7.6% in 2024, while iPhone shipments expected to stagnate, IDC forecasts
- But Apple already has a strategy to boost its sales: offering innovative designs
- In 2025, the firm should offer the iPhone 17 Air, which would have a radically different design from previous iPhones
- And in 2026, Apple could release its very first foldable iPhone
