AI is boosting smartphone sales worldwide: research

More than 1.2 billion smartphones are expected to be sold worldwide in 2024. More than 1.2 billion smartphones are expected to be sold worldwide in 2024. Image: Shutterstock

Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow by 6% in 2024, according to research firm IDC. After several years of slight decline, this increase is expected to be driven by the rise of AI features in smartphones, stimulating new interest among consumers.

Analysis at IDC expect the smartphone market to remain buoyant following two first quarters of growth this year. It forecasts an increase in shipments of around 5.8% for the year as a whole, with a total of some 1.23 billion handsets shipped. Shipments have already risen by 12% and 9% respectively in Q1 and Q2 2024, compared to 2023 figures.

IDC points to several factors to explain this growth. The first is that the most affordable smartphones are currently selling very well in emerging markets, after two more challenging years. Meanwhile, high-end phones are attracting renewed interest with the arrival of devices boosted by artificial intelligence. These “GenAI” smartphones are equipped with chips powerful enough to assist the user in AI-assisted content generation, and are expected to account for almost 18% of the global smartphone market by the end of 2024.

Overall, this year, Android is expected to grow nine times faster (+7.1%) than iOS (+0.8%), mainly thanks to increased sales in China. However, iOS forecasts could quickly be revised upwards, depending on consumer interest in the AI features of iPhone 16.

For IDC, 2024 could well mark the start of a longer-term rebound in global smartphone shipments, which could continue to climb through to 2028.