Receding turnover in Europe
Last year, the average smartphone in Europe cost 408 euro, but that price has dropped to 350 euro this year. Central and Eastern European prices have dropped another 18 % to a mere 191 euro, according to market research firm GfK. Second quarter smartphone sales in Western Europe reached 30.3 million smartphones, up 9 % compared to last year, but nevertheless, turnover dropped from 12.5 to 11.7 billion dollars (10.4 billion euro).
The downward trend is not visible all over the world: the average price in the United States grew from 382 to 409 dollars (363 euro). On top of that, American volume also grew 10 % to 44.4 million smartphones, resulting in a 18.2 billion dollar (16.2 billion euro) turnover: a 19 % increase compared to last year.
The largest growth was to be found in China, where the iPhone’s popularity helped shoot average numbers up 31 % to 302 dollars (274 euro). Turnover reached 26.8 billion dollars (23.8 billion euro), a 17 % increase.
GfK expects the full-year market to grow 10 % in 2015. The market managed a 23 % growth last year, but several markets have now become saturated.
