Economic uncertainty, rising build quality, and growing interest in sustainable living will hit the global smartphone market while at the same time driving the global second-hand phone market up, according to analyst CSS Insight’s new market forecast. It will push you to new heights.
The company expects mobile phone shipments to reach 1.35 billion units in 2023, down 4% from last year and reaching the lowest annual level in the past decade. Of these devices, 1.16 billion will be new devices.
Marina Koytcheva, CCS Insight’s vice president of forecasting, said this is because people are happy to keep their devices around longer. And with Covid-19, the Russian invasion, and the looming global recession rocking the global economy, they’re less keen to invest heavily in top-tier devices.
Growing demand for used goods
But people still like their phones, so more and more are turning to second-hand options.
Parul Saxena said, “The market for second-hand devices will grow by 2023 as people seek value-for-money options in the face of an economic downturn and opt for second-hand phones to support a greener lifestyle. It is projected to continue to grow in the coming years,” he said. Senior Analyst at CCS Insights.
CSS Insights believes that 330 million used devices will be sold this year, with an “increase in percentage” through organized channels.
Researchers believe that some new smartphones still perform well. That means 5G-enabled devices will show relatively strong demand, and he could reach 700 million shipments this year. This means that more than one of his two smartphones sold will be his 5G-enabled device.
While the overall market may recover somewhat next year, it is highly unlikely to reach the mid-2010s highs of about 2 billion new devices sold each year. Unforgiveable, they argue.
In fact, by 2027, the share of used devices in total sales could double.
“Our research shows that mobile phones continue to be the most loved connected devices people own. It doesn’t mean we want to buy an entirely new device, consumer behavior has changed since the pandemic and the industry has to adapt to the new reality,” concludes Koytcheva.
