Android will remain the top smartphone operating system and...

grow to 1.3 billion in 2018, but its share will dip to 76 percent, IDC projected. Shipments for iOS will increase from 179.9 million to 249.6 million during the same time frame, but the iOS share will dip from 14.9 percent to 14.4 percent, IDC estimated. Global smartphone shipments across all platforms will slow to 8.3 percent annual growth in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2018, IDC predicted. Annual smartphone shipment volume in 2013 passed 1 billion units for the first time, a 39.2 percent growth over 2012, it said. But in the coming year, IDC expects mature markets including North America and Europe will drop to single-digit growth and Japan might “contract slightly,” it said. Despite the high growth expected in many emerging markets, 2014 will be the year smartphone growth falls more significantly than ever before, it said. Shipment volume is expected to increase to 1.2 billion this year, growth of 19.3 percent from 2013, it said. More than 200 million smartphones are in active use in North America, said Ryan Reith, IDC program director-Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in a news release. But this year will be an “enormous transition year” for the smartphone market, he said. “New markets for growth bring different rules to play by and ‘premium’ will not be a major factor in the regions driving overall market growth,” he said. As mature markets become “saturated and worldwide growth slows, service providers and device manufacturers are seeking opportunities to move hardware wherever they can,” said IDC. The result will be “rapidly declining price points, creating challenging environments in which to turn a profit,” it said. The global smartphone average selling price (ASP) was $335 in 2013, and that’s expected to drop to $260 by 2018, it said. To reach the “untapped demand within emerging markets, carriers and OEMs will need to work together to bring prices down,” said Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager-mobile phone. Last year, 322.5 million smartphone units shipped at under $150 and that number will continue to grow, he said. Several smartphone announcements already have targeted that price level this year, with some as low as $25, he said. IOS will have the highest ASPs among the leading platforms through 2018, IDC predicted. Apple has “maintained a tight focus on the high end of the market with its most current devices,” a trend IDC expects will continue but “could keep iOS from realizing greater volumes within emerging markets,” said the research company. But sales in mature markets will “offset much of the difference,” it said. Windows Phone is expected to grow the fastest among the leading smartphone operating systems through 2018, helped by nine new Windows Phone partners, said IDC. Most of the new vendors come from emerging markets, it said. Windows Phone’s shipments will grow from 47 million to 121.8 million and its share will grow from 3.9 percent to 7 percent between this year and 2018, predicted IDC. BlackBerry’s higher-than-average prices “could inhibit its growth potential,” said IDC, predicting shipments will tumble from 11.9 million to 5.3 million with that operating system’s share slipping from 1 percent to 0.3 percent.