Smartphone shipment growth in China will plummet by more than half to 7.8 percent next year, the first single-digit level since 2009, an industry report has warned.

A declining base of first-time buyers will be the major reason, and future sales will be driven by the replacement market, research firm International Data Corp said.

This year's estimated growth rate is 19.9 percent, the report said, with 420 million units likely to be shipped.