Smartphone market's glory days are ending - CNET

The smartphone industry's days of double-digit growth are likely behind it.

Smartphone ownership has reached peak levels in key markets worldwide, Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said in a report Tuesday.

In North America, 65 percent of consumers own a smartphone. In Europe, that number jumps to 74 percent. In China, the figure rests at 72 percent. This translates to markets with fewer and fewer first-time buyers.

With only incremental improvements in each new generation of phones, it's also harder to tempt smartphone owners to jump to new models. Just look, for instance, at the declining sales at Samsung or flattening sales at Apple. The situation is prompting phone makers to try new approaches, such as LG's new twist of modular add-ons to boost phone capabilities.

Market saturation is a quandary that won't be going away. To try to generate sales growth for 2016, Milanese said, phone vendors must focus on two tactics: Convince die-hard feature phone owners they need a smartphone and persuade smartphone owners they need the "next big thing."