According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the sales of smartphones are set to cross 50% of the total mobile phones sold worldwide. The forecast of smartphone shipments in 2013 suggests that nearly 920 million devices will be shipped worldwide. The growths of 4G LTE networks worldwide as well as reducing prices of smartphones are among the major factors that will drive up smartphone sales.
All over the world, smartphone prices have fallen drastically. Low-end smartphones are available for less than $75 in many emerging markets. Data from IDC suggests that the sale of smartphones in emerging economies such as India is set to increase by over 400% in the next four years. Also driving up demand are other emerging economies with large populations such as Brazil and China. Based on their projections, IDC estimates that 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped in the year 2017, which will account for over 67% of the total mobile shipments.
Many of these emerging economies, where 3G networks are gaining popularity, have just begun the move to high speed 4G mobile networks. As users get accustomed to accessing the internet and checking email on the move, they will definitely make the switch to a smartphone. Maps and navigation capabilities as well as the social media connectivity enabled by smartphone devices are already popular among the youth in many of these countries.
China is starting to mature in the smartphone market, with more reported smartphones sales than the United States last year. The growth of the market will now be steady. However, if the rumors of a low cost device in the iPhone family from Apple and their plans to support China’s non-standard Time Division Duplexing LTE technology come to fruition, it may contribute to a larger growth of the smartphone market in the region. IDC believes that there is significant untapped potential in the Indian market, which has just started its move to 4G networks. According to forecasts, in 2017 almost half the phones sold in India are expected to be smartphones. India may emerge as the third or even second largest smartphone consumer in the next 4-5 years.
This forecast does seem to be in line with the recent trends observed in the MWC last week where many manufacturers showcased entry-level and mid-range smartphones targeted at these emerging markets.
