Emerging Markets To Push Smartphone Sales Up 23.8 Pct To 1.25 Billion
"The smartphone market, which has experienced runaway growth over the last several years, is starting to slow. Mature markets have slowed considerably but still deliver strong revenues with average selling prices (ASPs) over $ 400," IDC Mobile Phone team Research Manager Ramon Llamas said.
Meanwhile, many emerging markets are still barrelling along, but with ASPs of less than $ 250, he added.
"The key for vendors now is to maintain a presence in the higher-margin mature markets, while establishing a sustainable presence within the fast-growing emerging markets. To enable this strategy, operating system companies are partnering with OEMs to provide low-cost handsets," Llamas said.
According to ICD, the catalyst for growth continues to be Android devices, which are expected to account for 88.4 per cent of the volume.
The support that Google's Android platform has received from over 150 handset manufacturers has allowed it to gain the share it has in emerging markets, IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker Program Director Ryan Reith said.
"The lack of constraints around hardware and software specifications has helped bring to market many low-cost products, a lot of which could be considered borderline junk. With Google's recent announcement of Android One, they hope to change this by laying out a set of standards for manufacturers to follow," he added.
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