Telecom
Smartphones Shipment Volumes Decline by 0.5% in 2017, but Growth Expected to Return in 2018 – IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report, shows that, worldwide Smartphone shipments declined by 0.5% in 2017, the first year-over-year decline the market has experienced since the introduction of what we now know as smartphones.
Smartphone companies shipped a total of 1.46 billion devices in 2017 with nearly all of that volume running either the Android or iOS platforms.
Looking forward, IDC expects shipment volumes to return to low single-digit growth in 2018 and the overall market to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8% over the 2017-2022 forecast period with volumes forecast to reach 1.68 billion units in 2022.
Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers, said “2017 turned out to be the year we all knew would eventually come – when smartphone volumes finally experienced a contraction.”
“That fact that China alone declined almost 5% in 2017 was a huge factor for why global volumes fell, but EMEA also declined 3.5%, and the U.S. market was flat.
“In our opinion, areas for growth have not changed. Developing markets still have plenty of room for build out, led by first-time buyers.
“And the premium space will continue to represent roughly 20% of the market. However, competition will continue to tighten and consolidation is inevitable.”
Design innovation continues to be a focal point of the industry, yet technology advances are becoming less about tangible hardware aesthetics and more about components and software.
This shift makes differentiation a challenge, especially as the entire industry is sprinting towards bigger screens and smaller bezels.
IDC expects 2018 to be the year when phablets outship regular smartphones, essentially ending the race for bigger screens.
Big differences in quality and display type still exist, but the average consumer will continue to struggle to understand these differences.
So, what’s next? 5G momentum is in full swing and device OEMs, component suppliers, telcos, and services companies are all looking to capitalize.
IDC expects commercial 5G smartphones to hit the market in 2019, ramping up to account for roughly 18% of worldwide shipments by 2022.
Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, said“ To keep up with the increasing demand for the new AI, AR/VR, contextually aware, and 5G functionalities headed to the market, we expect growth to come from improvements in overall core functions in the near term,”
“Improvements in speed, power, battery life, and general performance will be critical in driving growth at a worldwide level as the smartphone evolves into a true all-in-one tool.
“Although these types of improvements seem to arrive each year, delivering it more affordably will carry even greater significance to consumers as many highly competitive emerging markets remain crucial in driving growth throughout the forecast period.”
Platform Highlights shows that android Volumes were essentially flat in 2017, with OEMs shipping a total of 1.24 billion handsets running Google’s OS.
After years of vendors customizing Android’s OS to put their UI spin on things, we are finally hitting a point where everyone is pivoting back to stock Android.
This is an initiative that Google has been pushing for quite some time as the standardization on software can bring faster updates, minimize consumer confusion, and potentially allow Google to gain back some control of the platform.
The biggest change for Android devices in 2017 was that average selling prices (ASPs) grew for the first time since 2010.
This is largely due to the low-end players migrating their portfolios upstream toward mid-tier pricing.
Consumers have gone along with this trend, although many low-end buyers have grown increasingly frustrated with the poor battery and performance issues experienced on the device after just months of use.
iOS: Coming off of the first year-over-year decline in iPhone shipments in 2016, Apple returned to growth in 2017 albeit only 0.2%.
Apple shipped 215.8 million iPhones in 2017 with 64% of those coming from ‘Plus’-size iPhones (including the X).
The shift to bigger, more expensive devices has allowed Apple to continue to grow its ASPs while simlutaneously facing the challenges of growing its shipment volumes.
IDC expects iPhone shipments to grow 3.7% to 223.8 million units in 2018 and reaching 242.4 million in 2022.
Overall iPhone volumes are expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 2.4%. Apple will continue to experience challenges breaking into some of the remaining high-growth developing markets, but there is no question they are far from being pushed out of the premium market segment.
Apple continues to build out its device upgrade program, a move IDC believes could be a catalyst to support growth over the next five years.
Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a pan-African digital rights and inclusion organisation, says it has engaged more than 1,300 stakeholders across 11 African countries through a series of forums, training sessions and policy dialogues aimed at strengthening digital rights, inclusion and online civic participation.
The organisation disclosed this in a statement, saying the engagements were carried out during the second quarter of the year through 26 programmes focused on election monitoring, judicial capacity building, digital literacy and policy development.
According to PIN, the initiative brought together policymakers, judges, lawyers, journalists, civil society organisations and community groups to promote a safer, more inclusive digital ecosystem across the continent.
The organisation said the programmes focused on safeguarding electoral integrity in Zambia, The Gambia and Ethiopia, while also strengthening the capacity of Nigeria’s judiciary on issues relating to Artificial Intelligence (AI), data privacy and digital evidence.
In partnership with Meta, PIN trained 35 judges in Lagos across two cohorts on privacy, data protection, AI and digital evidence.
It described the initiative as a significant step towards equipping Nigeria’s judicial officers to effectively handle legal disputes arising from an increasingly digital society.
The organisation also expanded its Digital Rights and Elections in Africa Meetings (DREAM) to Ethiopia, The Gambia and Zambia.
According to the statement, the programme equipped 110 civil society organisations, media professionals and election management bodies with skills to monitor digital rights violations and protect online civic spaces during election periods.
PIN further said its Digital Rights Academy (DRA) trained more than 100 lawyers, law students and digital rights advocates from Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
The academy focused on strengthening participants’ capacity in strategic litigation and promoting accountability for digital rights violations.
The organisation also hosted a Digital Policy Engagement Roundtable, bringing together 34 stakeholders, including organisations representing persons with disabilities, to discuss accessibility and inclusion in digital policy development.
It said Afrocities roundtables held in Nigeria and Tanzania attracted 80 participants who explored ways of improving informal workers’ access to digital social protection and financial services.
According to the statement, a ministerial roundtable in Zambia also aligned the country’s digital priorities with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) review process.
PIN said it also implemented the Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) Ambassadors Training in Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal.
The programme reached 315 participants and strengthened their capacity to deliver digital rights education through experiential learning approaches.
The organisation said the training improved participants’ understanding of digital rights and increased interest in practical digital rights education across communities.
PIN also highlighted the successful hosting of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum 2026 (DRIF26) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The forum, themed “Building Inclusive and Resilient Digital Futures”, attracted 415 participants from more than 39 countries.
According to the organisation, the event brought together policymakers, civil society organisations, media professionals, academics, legal experts, technologists, human rights defenders and development partners to promote dialogue, partnerships and knowledge sharing on Africa’s digital future.
PIN said the engagements underscored the growing importance of collaborative efforts in advancing digital rights, promoting inclusion and strengthening digital governance across the continent
Airtel Africa, a telecommunications and mobile money services provider across 14 African countries, saved 9.1 million litres of diesel during its just ended 2025/2026 financial year, as part of efforts to drive responsible growth by minimising the environmental impact of its operations.
This was achieved by reducing reliance on diesel and increasing use of lower-carbon energy sources, including the conversion of 390 infrastructure sites to on-grid power during the year, thus improving efficiency and reducing emissions.
Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar highlighted this achievement during a media roundtable held in Lusaka, Zambia, where he presented the Group’s Sustainability Scorecard and progress towards building a more sustainable, inclusive and connected Africa.
Other initiatives to reduce Airtel Africa’s environmental impact during the year included promoting the circular economy, recycling 94% of total waste generated. These form part of Airtel Africa’s broader sustainability strategy, which seeks to create long-term value by balancing business growth with environmental stewardship, digital inclusion and socio-economic development.
Mr. Taldar emphasized that responsible growth remains central to Airtel Africa’s business strategy and is reflected in the company’s ability to extend services and opportunities to millions of people across the continent while advancing sustainability goals. Airtel Africa’s network now reaches 81.9% of the population across its markets, enabling greater access to connectivity, information, education and economic opportunities for individuals and communities.
The company recorded progress in its efforts to advance financial inclusion. Airtel Money now serves 54.1 million customers through a network of 2.4 million agents, making it one of Africa’s largest digital financial services ecosystems. Notably, 44.1% of Airtel Money customers are female, demonstrating the platform’s growing role in empowering women through access to secure, affordable and convenient financial services.
Beyond connectivity and financial inclusion, Airtel Africa, through its philanthropic arm, Airtel Africa Foundation continued to drive meaningful change across communities in the continent, investing US$6.2 million in priority programmes in four strategic areas namely Financial Inclusion, Education, Environmental Sustainability and Digital Inclusion.
Through its partnership with UNICEF, 3,296 schools have been connected to the free internet access, helping to bridge the digital divide and expand access to quality education reaching over 2 million learners and 38,868 teachers, while 64 zero-rated digital learning platforms enabled more than 11 million learners to access free digital educational content.
Also, during the year, more than 30,000 young people received digital skills training, while over 250 full undergraduate STEM scholarships were awarded through the Airtel Africa Tech Fellowship programme, helping to prepare the next generation of African innovators and technology leaders.
Microsoft has announced plans to cut about 4,800 jobs globally, representing approximately 2.1 per cent of its workforce, as part of a broader restructuring aimed at improving efficiency and competitiveness.
The layoffs include about 1,600 employees in the company’s Xbox gaming division.
The company said additional job cuts are expected later this year as it continues efforts to reposition its gaming business.
According to an internal memo from Xbox Chief Executive Officer, Asha Sharma, the restructuring is intended to “reset” the business amid increasing competition in the gaming industry.
“Our business today is not healthy,” Sharma said in the memo.
“We are operating at margins that are three to 10 times lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.”
She attributed the challenges facing the division to rising production costs and intense competition in the gaming hardware market.
According to Sharma, the gaming industry is currently experiencing a severe hardware crisis as the cost of components used in gaming consoles continues to rise.
Xbox competes with gaming platforms such as Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch.
The latest layoffs form part of Microsoft’s broader strategy to streamline operations and strengthen the long-term sustainability of its gaming business.
Court Declares ARCON’s N60Bn Fine against Facebook Nigeria Illegal
NIN Enrollment Hits over 136m as New ID Law Takes Effect
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
Plateau PCC Collects Nigerians’ Data without Privacy Policy – FIJ
FG Suspends New Internet Regulations to Prevent Overlapping Rules
Mobile Internet Gender Gap Widest in Africa – GSMA
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
UK, Nigeria Launch £15m Growth Programme to Accelerate Economic Transformation
E-Financial2 days agoTokenization, Blockchain Technology will Transform Financial Institutions – IMF
General News2 days agoNIS Deploys Advanced Surveillance Masts, other Critical Infrastructure to Boost Border Security
Broadcasting2 days agoObi, NDC Presidential Candidate Faces N50Bn Defamation Claim over Alleged Podcast Remark
E-Business2 days agoWeebly Websites to Shut Down for Nigeria, 66 Other Countries from September
E-Financial2 days agoFG Denies N8 Trillion ‘Shadow Budget’, Says IMF Quoted out of Context
Telecom2 days agoNo Plans for Fresh Tariff Hike – MTN
General News1 day agoIHS Nigeria, FCT-HSES Concludes Clean Cooking Energy Campaign “Project Breathe Clean Air” in Abuja
News2 days agoWorld Bank Sounds Alarm: Low Revenue, Not Debt, Is Nigeria’s Biggest Fiscal Threat