IDC says the smartphone market is generally healthy despite a recent contraction in sales and believes the industry will see double digit growth through to 2022.

The analyst firm’s forecast says that although global shipments will fall 0.7 per cent in 2018 to 1.5 billion, a strong second half of the year is cause for optimism. By 2022, IDC believes shipments will have reached 1.7 billion.

Android will maintain its dominance with a share of 85 per cent over the period, but the average selling price of each device will increase. Android sales are expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2022, with iPhone sales rising by 2.1 per cent to 239 million.

•   Everything you need to know about 5G   

Smartphone growth

What is less clear is how the industry convinces consumers to upgrade. A relative lack of hardware innovation and saturation in developed markets has meant many are holding onto their handsets for longer periods of time.

Larger screens are seen as one way of doing this. The forecast suggests that two thirds of all smartphones sold in 2018 will have displays of 5.5 inches or larger, a figure which will increase to 84.5 per cent thanks to their inclusion in cheaper devices and new models of iPhone.

"With two out of three new iPhones expected to be larger than 6 inches, Apple will not be left behind in the 2018 race for increased screen real estate," said Melissa Chau, associate research director at IDC.

"You could say the term 'phablet' is becoming less relevant now that most smartphones will ship with larger screens, and when folding screens start coming into play in the medium term, this screen trend will evolve in new directions."

But other drivers are less obvious. The arrival of 5G smartphones from 2019 onwards will help drive sales while others are looking to AI features as a way of differentiating their products.

“We still believe the smartphone market has some healthy growth in the years to come, although finding and competing in those markets and segments is increasingly more challenging," added IDC’s Ryan Reith.

“Many OEMs, retailers, telcos, and supply chain partners will be working diligently to ensure consumers see the need to upgrade when products and services are readily available."

•   Check out our list of the best mobile deals for August 2018   

Apple's New iPhone 2018 launch event is Wednesday, September 12 - the invites have gone out to the press.

That's the date we expect Apple to announce the iPhone 9 and iPhone 11. There's been little mystery to the timing and design, though the names remain unknown.

The invite gives away little - the circular 'gather round' logo could just be a nod to the new Apple Campus, where the phone will be launched.

However, the coloring is interesting - if the new bronze look is going to be sticking around, that would be a neat new shade for Apple's phones.

What they'll be called, well, that's another matter. New iPhone rumors suggest three new iPhones: a refresh of the 5.8-inch iPhone X we're calling iPhone 11, a larger 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Plus, and a 'cheaper' 6.1-inch iPhone 9 with an LCD screen.

All three phones are expected to eschew the traditional home button, last seen in the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and utilize Face ID for unlocking and Apple Pay.

Which iPhone will you get and what will it be called?

The 6.1-inch iPhone, what we're calling iPhone 9, may be the most interesting. It's a sizable upgrade without too much of a downside (an LCD screen instead of OLED).

Most people won't notice the difference in screens without a side-by-side comparison. Those same people will notice the wider set of expected color choices: white, gray red, blue and orange. We haven't seen bold colors like this since the original iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 9 price may be closer to the 4.7-inch iPhone 8 at $699 (£699, AU$1,079), which would be a significant deal for an iPhone with such a large screen. But the latest word from analysts is that this LCD-equipped iPhone will release later than the OLED versions, possibly in October.

The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus, both with OLED screens, are rumored to come in black and white colors again, and be joined by newcomer gold (a color Apple is said to have canceled at one point before launching the iPhone X last year). 

The rest of the rumored specs shouldn't be a surprise: Apple's A12 chipset should give us faster performance, and the more expensive phones are likely to have dual-lens 12MP cameras, stainless steel (instead of aluminum frames), and slightly more RAM and storage options. All will run iOS 12 out of the box.

Apple event to have other announcements

This is an iPhone launch event, but Apple is almost certainly going to launch other products on September 12, including two long-overdue accessories.

The AirPower is the wireless charging mat Apple announced on September 12 – last year – at the Steve Jobs Theater. It has faced delays, but may finally be ready in 2018.

We were promised new AirPods (or at least a wireless case) last year, too. We've yet to see those launch, although they may be a stepping stone to the real AirPods 2, rumored to launch next year with features like noise canceling and waterproofing. 

• Apple reportedly launching noise-canceling AirPods and over-the-ear headphones in 2019

With three new iPhones and accessories expected to launch in less than a month, there's a lot of news to unpack in just a few short weeks. We'll be covering every second of the Apple event, so stay tuned for coverage of everything as it happens.

• All about iOS 12

The BlackBerry KEY2 is a phone for QWERTY fans and the new KEY2 LE continues with that same approach, but at a more affordable price thanks to some changes in materials and specifications.

The BlackBerry Key2 is a business-focused phone with a hardware keyboard and a dual-lens camera, but now the BlackBerry Key2 LE has been announced, ticking all those boxes at a much lower price.

The BlackBerry Key2 LE has a 4.5-inch 1080 x 1620 LCD screen with a physical keyboard underneath it, just like the full fat Key2. And like that phone it also has a handy Speed Key, which acts as a shortcut to various functions, plus 52 customizable keyboard shortcuts.

As noted above it also has a dual-lens camera, but this is one area where you can see how the price was kept down, as the BlackBerry Key2 LE has a 13MP and 5MP pairing, while the standard Key2 has a pair of 12MP cameras.

The Key2 LE’s Snapdragon 636 chipset and 4GB of RAM also make it slightly less powerful, and its battery is smaller too at 3,000mAh, but you still get a fingerprint scanner, an 8MP front camera, up to 64GB of storage, a microSD card slot, Android 8.1 and access to all the sorts of features you’d expect from a BlackBerry handset.

• Read our hands on: BlackBerry Key2 LE review

Putting security first

That includes a ‘Locker’ where you can keep apps, documents and photos private, BlackBerry’s DTEK app, which can detect potential security risks, support for dual accounts so you can keep work and personal separate on a single phone, and BlackBerry Hub, which houses all your messages from various different sources in one place.

The battery, while fairly small, apparently lasts up to 22 hours and supports fast charging, and the design of the BlackBerry Key2 LE includes a newly designed soft textured back, to provide better in-hand grip and minimize the risk of it being dropped.

And as noted, this is cheaper than the standard BlackBerry Key2. That phone costs $649/£579 (around AU$1,035), while the BlackBerry Key2 LE starts at $399 / £349 (roughly AU$625) for the 32GB model and rises to $449 / £399 (around AU$710) for the 64GB one.

It’s not available yet, but is set to launch starting next month, and when it does you should be able to choose between Slate, Champagne and Atomic colors.

• Don't need a keyboard? Check out the BlackBerry Motion