German smartphone market breaks the 40 billion euro mark for the first time

The German market for smartphones, apps and mobile communication is set to grow to over 40 billion euros for the first time this year. This is the conclusion reached by the ICT industry association Bitkom, which published its forecast shortly before the start of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

According to the latest calculations, the smartphone ecosystem is set to grow by 2.1% to 40.1 billion euros. Data and voice services are expected to account for well over half of the business volume at EUR 23.5 billion (up 1.9%). Smartphones themselves are expected to generate sales of EUR 12.1 billion (up 2.5%). The app market is expected to grow to 2.2 billion euros (up 2.3%). The same amount (EUR 2.2 billion, up 2.3%) will flow into the network infrastructure for mobile communication. However, the costs incurred for frequencies, buildings and construction work are neglected in the calculation.

Longevity more important than AI functions

According to the association survey, 82% of people over the age of 16 in Germany - around 56 million people - currently use a smartphone privately. 72% of them already use at least one AI function on their device. Voice assistants are used by just over half of those surveyed and chatbots by almost half. Overall, openness towards artificial intelligence is high among the users surveyed. For example, 56% can imagine using an AI smartphone without apps that is controlled exclusively by voice. However, the AI Pin smartphone alternative, which is controlled by voice and gestures, recently failed.

Voice control (62%) and AI-supported tools for image editing (54%) are also important criteria when buying a new smartphone. However, robustness and the longest possible service life continue to play by far the biggest role in the selection process. For example, 98% look for robust screen glass, 96% for a long battery life and 93% for long-term updates.

Smartphones are being used for longer and longer

The trend of recent years towards using devices for longer is continuing. On the one hand, this applies to daily usage time, which now averages 155 minutes across all age groups. On the other hand, it also applies to the age of smartphones. Only 35% currently have a device that is less than a year old. In 2024, this was still the case for 43% and 55% in 2023. At 47%, almost half of smartphones have been in use for more than two years. This figure was 27% in 2024 and 23% in 2023.

The fact that devices are becoming more robust, more durable and therefore of higher quality when they are purchased is in line with the delayed replacement. Since, according to the Bitkom study, the number of smartphones sold is expected to remain at around 20 million despite rising smartphone sales, the average price is expected to rise by 14 euros to 605 euros this year. For comparison: in 2021, this was still around 100 euros lower. According to market observations by IDC and Counterpoint, the global market share of Chinese smartphones continues to grow.

(dmk)