iPhone 12 ‘super cycle’ to help spur spike in global smartphone revenue

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone wholesale revenues will increase +13% year-over-year in 2021, the highest revenue growth in six years. Despite the economic uncertainty and dented consumer confidence caused by the coronavirus, the market will be able to bounce back in 2021, on the back of the iPhone 12 super cycle, and the migration to 5G globally, the research group adds.

“Although global smartphone wholesale revenues decreased -5% year-over-year in 2020, as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, we expect them to rebound strongly +13% in 2021 and continue to rise in the following years,” says Boris Metodiev, associate director at Strategy Analytics. “Economic recovery following COVID-19 related lockdowns globally, overdue replacement of aging devices and higher component prices, as well as migration towards 5G, are all going to contribute to the revenue growth in 2021.”

Linda Sui, senior director at Strategy Analytics, adds: “We expect global smartphone sales volume will grow + 7% year-over-year at 1.4 billion units, and global smartphone wholesale average selling price (ASP) will grow +6% to US$294 in 2021, resulting in smartphone wholesale revenue exceeding US$400 billion. We expect the ultra-premium segment (US$600 wholesale and above) to perform particularly well due to iPhone 12’s super cycle, and to contribute to almost half of the overall wholesale revenues this year.”