Total smartphone shipments for 2015 are projected to decline by 9.7% to 1.286 billion units, according to the latest report from global market research firm TrendForce. Though Chinese vendors have seen their shipments weakened as part of the ongoing slowdown in the worldwide smartphone market this year, their performances are above the global average.
The market for wearable devices (also known as wearables) has maintained a certain growth level in recent years, though device vendors have not experienced a boom in demand as they would hope. The total wearable device shipments in 2015 are estimated at 68.1 million units, according to global market research firm TrendForce.
Much of the development of the global mobile communication sector this year involves telecom operators expanding the 4G network. Next year, mobile operators will be working feverishly to upgrade their networks to LTE and to grow the 4G user base with bundled service and end device packages.
Growth in the tablet market slowed down in the third quarter due to market saturation. Global market research firm TrendForce’s latest tablet shipment report reveals shipments worldwide during this period totaled 39.3 million units, up slightly by 6.8% from the previous quarter. Vendors will be relying on new products or promotion deals to drive shipments in the final quarter, which is likely to account for much of the sales this year.
After experiencing shipment slump in the first half of 2015, branded notebook vendors aim to finish the year off with a strong recovery by making a comeback with an all-out effort to expand their shipments. Notebook demand remained strong in the U.S. and started to pick up in China. The stabilization of currency exchange rates has also resulted a gradual turnaround in the European notebook market.