Australian smartphone sales fell flat in 2016

Counterfeit trade threatens to call time on the health of the smartphone industry, according to new research, which estimates that $48 billion (45.3 billion euros) worth of sales were lost to phoney phones in 2015. The highest number of counterfeit sales were made to consumers in Africa (21.3 percent), followed by Latin America (19.6 percent), the Middle East (17.4 percent), China (15.6 percent) and Asia-Pacific (11.8 percent). "Its estimate that 12.9 percent of legitimate sales of smartphones were lost globally in 2015 can act as a powerful message for policymakers, and all who work to combat counterfeiting worldwide." "At the EUIPO, through our reporting and analysis, we are building a picture of how counterfeiting and piracy affect key economic sectors. This is our first report in this series which analyses a sector both inside and outside the EU.

Fake smartphone sales cost global industry $48 billion

As it stated in "Despite new players such as Google with the Pixel device entering the market, Android could only take 44.6 per cent market share. Samsung smartphone users indicated around 60 percent repeat purchase intention, similar to before the recall. However, at the end of 2016, Telsyte estimated that 75 per cent of Australians were using a smartphone, with near full penetration in the 18 to 55-year-old age group. Telsyte said smartphone sales were impacted by a combination of factors, including the recall of the Samsung Note 7, rising prices of premium handsets, and a difficult retail environment. Apple's iPhone was the most popular brand of smartphone sold in Australia, with an estimated 1.7 million units sold in the second half of 2016.