SAN FRANCISCO—Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5—widely anticipated to launch Wednesday (Sept. 12)—is expected to spur the global smartphone market back to growth in the second half of the year after contraction in the second quarter, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli.
IHS (El Segundo, Calif.) predicts that total smartphone sales worldwide will grow to 346.5 million units in the second half of 2012, up from 272.3 million in the first half of the year.
Thanks largely to a 26 percent decline in iPhone sales in the second quarter compared to the first, total worldwide smartphone sales dipped by about 1 percent in the second quarter to 135 million units, according to IHS. Apple reported selling 26 million iPhones in the second quarter, down from 35 million in the first quarter.
Analysts have blamed the pending launch of iPhone 5 for Apple's tepid second quarter iPhone sales. Anticipation of a new model causes many buyers to delay purchasing a new smartphone until the latest device is available.
