The smartphone industry has had a challenging few years, with global demand for new devices shifting back and forth due to consumer spending cuts, component shortages, inventory build-up, and longer replacement cycles, resulting in a massive $13 billion sales drop. And while the market struggles to retain the growth rates seen in 2021, the total amount of money spent on buying new smartphones in the past ten years still climbed to shocking highs.
According to data presented by AltIndex.com, consumers worldwide spent more than $4.6 trillion on smartphones in the past decade.
Annual Spending on Smartphones Jumped by 43% Since 2014: The smartphone industry and consumer spending on new devices have snowballed over the years. Besides Apple and Samsung, who kept their smartphones competitive with new releases and updates, their Chinese rivals Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have also made significant strides, generating a substantial share of global smartphone sales.
With a wide range of high-specification phones now available even at lower prices, smartphone sales have surged, especially in emerging markets, pushing the ten-year sales figures to shocking highs.
According to Statista and Counterpoint Research data, consumers worldwide spent a whopping $4.61 trillion on smartphones between 2014 and 2024, more than the GDP of some of the world`s largest economies like Germany and Japan and twice that of Canada, France, or Italy. At the same time, the IDC data shows global smartphone shipments hit a whopping 14 billion in this period.
Statistics show that 2021 and 2023 were the best years for smartphone sales, generating the highest revenue of $481.2 billion and $479 billion, respectively. Although 2024 is expected to see roughly $13 billion lower smartphone sales revenue of $467 billion, this still represents a considerable increase compared to figures reported in 2014. According to Statista and Counterpoint, consumers now spend 43% or $140 billion more on smartphones than they did ten years ago.
In a global comparison, Asians are undoubtedly the biggest spenders on smartphones, generating almost 50% of global sales. Due to the region`s population, that is unlikely to change in the future. Statistics show Asians will spend $231 billion on smartphones this year, nearly $100 billion more than Europeans and North Americans combined. Compared to Asia, the residents of the Old Continent will spend a minor $79 billion on smartphones in 2024, still $5 billion more than North Americans.
Consumers to Spend Another $2.6 Trillion on Smartphones in the Next Five Years: While the $4.6 trillion in ten-year sales revenue is quite impressive, this figure is projected to grow substantially in the following years. According to Statista, consumers worldwide will spend another $2.6 trillion on smartphones by 2029, or nearly 60% of the figure reported between 2014 and 2024.
The annual spending will also see double-digit growth, rising by 16% or $57 billion in the next five years. In 2024, consumers worldwide will spend $467 billion on smartphones, and by 2028, this figure will jump to over $542 billion.
