PC, ultramobile and mobile users are spending higher amounts on new devices resulting in growth in end-user spending in 2017. Gartner has estimated that end-user spending will increase by 2% this year, to nearly $600 billion. Mobile phone spending will be 67% of the total spending, and will reach nearly $400 billion in 2017, which is an increase of 4.3% percent from 2016.
Many people are replacing their basic phones with smartphones from rising vendors such as Huawei and Oppo. In emerging markets, the majority of users are upgrading to better basic phones as the leap to premium phones remains out of reach for most.
There has been greater availability of basic phones from Chinese vendors such as Oppo, BBK and Huawei, and as such the average selling price has increased for basic phones by 13.5%. It is expected that this will increase by a further 4% this year.
The high-end smartphone market in North America is also expected to increase the average selling price by 4% this year, mainly due to the release of the Samsung Galaxy 8 and the expected new iPhone.
Shipments of PCs, ultramobiles and mobiles are projected to total 2.3 billion units in 2017, which is a similar figure to the total for 2016.
Figures for ultramobiles (premium) include devices such as Microsoft Windows 10 Intel x86 products and the Apple MacBook Air. Figures for ultramobiles (basic and utility) includes devices such as the Apple iPad and iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, Amazon Fire HD, Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 and Acer Iconia One.
