(Telecompaper) Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach a total of nearly 1.3 billion units in 2014, representing an increase of 26.3 percent over 2013, according to a new forecast from IDC. Looking ahead, IDC expects 1.4 billion smartphones to be shipped worldwide in 2015 for a 12.2 percent year-over-year growth rate. Slower annual growth continues throughout the forecast with unit shipments approaching 1.9 billion in 2018, resulting in a 9.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2014-2018 forecast period. Smartphone revenues reflect a starker picture, as they will be hard hit by the increasingly cutthroat nature of pricing, resulting in a 4.2 percent CAGR over the same forecast period.