(Telecompaper) The smartphone market will grow in single digits for the first time this year, according to the latest forecast from IDC. The market researcher predicts worldwide smartphone shipments will grow 9.8 percent in 2015 to a total of 1.43 billion units. IDC updated its previous forecast to reflect slowing growth in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America and Western Europe. The slower growth is expected to intensify slightly over the 2015-2019 forecast period, mainly due to lower shipment forecasts for Windows Phone as well as alternative platforms (OS other than Android, iOS, Windows). The market researcher expects a CAGR over the forecast period of 7.4 percent. While China has been seen as a growth engine for the market, IDC expects it's now become largely a replacement market, and will only grow in single digits. The Middle East & Africa (MEA) region will see the highest growth in 2015, with shipments expected to increase nearly 50 percent. Growth going forward will continue to come from low-cost smartphones in emerging markets. As many of these phones do not have the components to last two years, replacement cycles will be less than the typical two-year rate, helping sustain the market growth. IDC also expects vendors to turn more to new financing and trade-in options in order to drive replacements, also in more developed markets as Apple has done with the latest iPhone.