Smartphone shipments in Taiwan are expected to drop on year in 2016 as the penetration rate of smartphones in the local market has already reached a rather high level, a market condition which is unlikely to trigger a new wave of replacement demand, according to market sources.

Shipment of smartphones in the local market have continued to drop on month since the beginning of the year, with shipments in February lower than those shipped a month earlier due to reduced work days in the month, and shipments in March were also lower than those shipped in February due to seasonality, said Jonathan Lin, general manager of Sony Mobile Taiwan.

For 2016, total smartphone shipments in Taiwan are expected to reach 7-7.5 million units compared to 7.5-8 million shipped a year earlier, the sources estimated.