Smartphone market set for big changes

The overall growth of China's smartphone market will slow down this year compared with 2016, with product updates and replacements being a key driving force, said a report released by research firm GfK.

GfK estimated that with the depreciation of the yuan and rising cost of components, competition in the smartphone market would become more intense.

Meanwhile, the growth rate in sales revenue of smartphones will be higher than that of sales volumes, with the average price of a smartphone rising this year, it said.