Apple’s iPhone is a leader in the global smartphone market with 231.2 million units sold in 2015 (Villapaz 2015). Although the number of mobile phone users continues to increase, the smartphone…show more content… In the face of the company’s most significant decline in the past ten years, Apple CEO Tim Cook was quoted saying, “Our team executed extremely well in the face of strong macroeconomic headwinds, we are very happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from Services, thanks to the incredible strength of the Apple ecosystem and our growing base of over one billion active devices.” (Apple 2016).
Globally, the smartphone market is showing signs of slowing. Although 334.9 million total units were shipped in the first quarter of 2016, this was only slightly higher than the 334.3 million in the same period of 2015 (IDC 2016). This figure is the smallest same period growth on record. The minimal growth in the quarter was attributed to market saturation in developed markets, along with a decline in the top two producers, Apple and Samsung (IDC 2016).
Locally however, there has yet to be a similar decline. According to ACMA (2016), the percentage of smartphone users is still increasing. As at December 2014, 29 per cent of the population used a mobile phone for their phone and data service, opting against a fixed phone internet at home. This figure has increased from 2.2 million in December 2010 (ACMA 2016). This trend can be most significantly recognised in Australian teenagers aged between 14-17 years, where a significant jump was seen
