Smartphones rule the roost while gamers keep the PC market afloat

Smartphones reclaimed the throne of technical consumer goods as record global demand created 700m sales of new handsets in the six months leading up to 30 June, despite an increase in the average selling price.

Mobile phone sales increased 5% in the first six months of 2016, according to figures from GfK, while sales value increased 12% as the average selling price of smartphones grew 7% to €287 around the globe.

Running counter to UK-focused retailer Dixons Carphone's claims of slowdown in the mobile phone market due to the weak pound and consumers holding on to their handsets for longer, GfK found technological advancements such as larger screens, increased storage capacity, longer battery life and features like shock and water protection meant consumers around the world were willing to part with their money in order to get their hands on the newest models.

Wearables gained popularity in the half as sales of devices like smart watches, health and fitness trackers and GPS pulse watches gained over 20% on the previous year in both Western Europe and Asia, with fitness sports watches making up the majority of those sales.

Bluetooth headphones were under an increased demand, particularly in Asia, as sales were over 100% higher than they had been on 30 June 2016.

Roughly €110m in revenue was collected from virtual reality (VR) headsets and devices in the time period, with a total of 893,000 VR devices coming off the shelves, with a particularly heightened interest in the UK.

On the more traditional side of things, gaming hardware for personal computers maintained its place as an essential driver of growth for the computer and peripherals market in the first six months of the year according to German market research firm GfK.

Household PC sales have been on the decline for a number of years as the advent of new technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, saw many of the hardware's core users switch to the more mobile and inexpensive options that those products provided.

However, GfK said the personal gaming computer was transformed from somewhat of a "niche segment to a strong selling mainstream product."

In the first half of 2017, the desktop PC market increased its global revenue by an impressive 55% on last year, while the portable gaming pc market jumped up 24% and generated €1.5bn in revenue across the globe before even including North American sales.

In Western Europe, which was responsible for 44% of all sales, €682m was spent on gaming PCs and accessories and the Asia-Pacific market reported a 67% increase to €522m.

Gaming monitors, in particular, saw a soaring rise in sales, up 114% year-on-year as accessories such as mice, keyboards, headsets, and monitors accounted for €1.1bn of those sales.