IDC revised downward its forecast for smartphone market growth in 2016, “on the basis of the continued slowdown in mature markets and China”.

The company said that the market will grow by 3.1 per cent to 1.48 billion shipments, a reduction of 2.6 points on its last forecast. It also marks a significant slowdown from 10.5 per cent growth in 2015, and from 27.8 per cent in 2014.

The research firm anticipates that large markets such as US, Western Europe and China will see low single digit growth rates in 2016, with Japan and China expected to shrink by 6.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.

And also taking place is a shift in buying patterns, with operators moving away from service plans with subsidies to monthly installment plans, and more devices being bought via online marketplaces.

“Consumers everywhere are getting savvy about how and where they buy their smartphones, and this is opening up new doors for OEMs and causing some traditional channels to lose some control of the hardware flow,” said Ryan Reith, program vice president at IDC.

But there are some positives: large screen devices (5.5-inch and above) are expected to see double-digit growth until 2019.

“We are witnessing a plethora of vendors shifting their flagship devices towards the phablet category as the average selling price for a phablet will remain significantly higher than a regular smartphone ($383 versus $260 in 2016) through the forecast period,” Anthony Scarsella, research manager, said.