sandalwood

The global e-commerce market is entering a new phase of structural growth. Leading platforms leverage data-driven operations, resilient cross-regional supply chains, and scale synergies to create a “cost optimization – demand matching – scale expansion” cycle, amplifying impact in regional markets. Online smartphone channels are upgrading price structures: in 2024, the low-end segment shrank by 4.2%, mid-range grew by 9.7%, and high-end surged by 18.5% (Sandalwood data). Brands must refine strategies globally and locally—develop high-end value in mature markets and expand mid-range coverage in emerging markets. Overseas markets are building agile channel capabilities via e-commerce while enhancing supply chain flexibility, local warehouses, and omnichannel touchpoints, forming key competitive advantages for the next stage.

1.Global E-commerce Structural Expansion

Reshaping the Competitive Landscape of the Smartphone Industry

After years of declining sales, the smartphone market showed signs of stabilization in 2024, but the recovery remains fragile. Weak consumer demand, extended replacement cycles, and structural channel fragmentation have driven the industry competition toward a systematic improvement of full-spectrum operational capabilities.

The global e-commerce market is entering a new development cycle. The pandemic significantly accelerated e-commerce platform growth, and in the post-pandemic era, digital transformation focused on efficiency continues to drive momentum. Leading global e-commerce platforms have expanded their regional influence, greatly improved operational efficiency, and enhanced cross-regional supply chain resilience, enabling most global e-commerce players to build a growth cycle of “cost optimization – demand matching – scale expansion” with relative ease.

According to global market research firm Sandalwood, online smartphone sales worldwide are expected to exceed 300 million units in 2025, with online sales accounting for 26% of total smartphone sales. This means that at least one in every four smartphones globally will be sold through e-commerce channels—up from 16% before the pandemic. This growth is mainly driven by core large markets like China, the US, and India. During the pandemic, global logistics, payment infrastructure, and local e-commerce platforms rapidly developed. By the end of 2024, there were over 100 platforms worldwide with more than one million monthly active users.This shift reflects the evolution of e-commerce platforms from mere transaction venues to omnichannel hubs. As online channels increasingly dominate consumer attention globally, brands must reassess the underlying logic of their channel strategies.

2.Significant Growth Trends in Major Global E-commerce Regions

Under the overall theme of global e-commerce expansion, different regional markets are unfolding unique growth stories. In Southeast Asia, TikTok Shop leveraged its short-video ecosystem to achieve explosive 190% growth in smartphone sales in 2024. Its “content seeding + live streaming conversion” model significantly increased users’ daily engagement time. Meanwhile, Shopee combined local warehouse capabilities with promotional subsidies to boost smartphone sales in Southeast Asia by over 70% year-on-year. The product mix has also upgraded, with mid- to high-end models increasing by 8 percentage points and the high-end segment above $400 doubling in market share. Localized fulfillment capabilities are playing an increasingly important role in supporting higher-priced products. The Southeast Asian e-commerce market shows a tiered price shift: “ultra-low price contraction, mid-range expansion, and high-end emergence,” with average selling prices rising 9.7% annually, reflecting structural upgrades in emerging markets.

Compared to Southeast Asia’s content-driven innovation, Latin America’s market is marked by infrastructure-driven upgrades. Mercado Libre improved delivery efficiency by 50% through its self-built logistics system and maintained product damage rates at industry-leading levels. Its smartphone strategy compresses entry-level models priced ≤ $100 to under 10%, focusing resources on the $100–199 mass market while cultivating high-end models priced ≥ $400. This “gradual upgrade” strategy led to a 48% smartphone sales increase in 2024, with average selling prices rising 18%, demonstrating a feasible path for emerging markets to “popularize first, then upgrade.”

In mature markets, the high-end structure of the e-commerce market continues to strengthen. On Amazon’s Western Europe platform in 2024, the ≥ $400 segment’s share increased by 8 percentage points, with the ≥ $800 ultra-high-end segment surpassing 20%. China’s e-commerce market entered the high-end phase earlier, with the ≥ $400 segment accounting for 54% of online smartphone sales in 2024. Foldable screens and AI imaging flagship models (≥ $600) pushed average selling prices up by 11% that year. The shift in e-commerce growth logic has moved from early “volume-for-price” penetration strategies toward maintaining premium capabilities through segmented high-end value curves.

3.Omnichannel Competition Reshapes Brand Strategies

As price segmentation resonates with channel evolution, e-commerce is shifting the dimensions of competition. The battle for traffic has moved from traditional shelves to content-driven spaces. Social commerce is growing significantly faster than traditional offline channels, with short videos and live streaming creating “instant demand” that drives many new purchase decisions. Building global operations now requires balancing localization and globalization. For example, Shopee has reduced delivery times in Southeast Asia to 1.8 days, while TikTok Shop achieves rapid growth through a “hot-selling product pre-positioning + long-tail direct shipping” model.

Price segmentation in the e-commerce market opens many niche opportunities. The global average online smartphone price shows a high-end trend with “low-end contraction (-4.2%), mid-range expansion (+9.7%), and high-end surge (+18.5%),” demanding more precise brand positioning strategies.

4.Future Trends: Omnichannel Mindshare Battle and Competitive Landscape Reshaping

The global e-commerce market is thriving, with ongoing deepening of retail digitization and platformization. Led by China’s e-commerce globalization, overseas markets are rapidly entering a stage of omnichannel mindshare competition—consumers no longer distinguish simply between online and offline but seek seamless shopping experiences. This transformation is driving e-commerce platforms to evolve from channel service providers into ecosystem integrators, prompting traditional brands to redefine their competitive strategies.