Demand for smartphones is down, even with the lure of new technology
Demand for smartphones is down, even with the lure of new technology
The newest iPhones are out tomorrow in stores — the 16 and 16 Plus. Smartphone sales in the U.S. have been down for the last couple of years, and early pre-order and shipment data indicates demand is not that strong for the new models. Will people rush out and buy them?
Full disclosure: I am the kind of person who holds onto their smartphone until it dies — or at least until critical features, like the phone part, stop working. Julie Ask, a long-time industry analyst, said that’s becoming more common.
“Back in like, ’09, 2010 when the iPhone would be announced, people would camp out outside of an Apple store,” she said, because they had to be the first to have the newest device with the fancier camera.
These days, Ask said, new phones often don’t have some big, exciting leap in technology.
“When it’s just 12 months or 24 months after I bought my last smartphone, I can’t really tell the difference,” she said.
So why rush to spend $800 dollars?
Jessica Ramirez, a research analyst at Jane Hali and Associates, said inflation has also made people more inclined to hold onto their phones.
“They are strapped for cash,” she said. “So if it’s not a current need, they will not spend on it.”
And today’s phones last longer, said Nabila Popal, senior director of data and analytics at data firm IDC.
“As people have better devices, they break less often, they need less upgrade,” she said.
A decade ago, most people were buying a new phone every two years or so. Today, it’s more like every four. And since a lot of people bought phones early in the pandemic, Popal said she’s expecting a modest growth rate in the U.S. this year, and more significant growth next year.
Eventually, she said, with AI, there will likely be big leaps in technology that will make people want to rush out for the newest phone again.
Just not quite yet.
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