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Annual smartphone sales to reach 300m by 2013

Smartphone sales will hit 300 million units per year worldwide by 2013, as prices fall and more consumers turn to high-end devices to access mobile Web applications, Juniper Research predicted on Monday.

Smartphones accounted for 13% of all handset sales in 2008, a figure that will rise to 23% in the next five years, the analyst firm said in a new report.

Juniper said the rising number of mobile Web applications and media tools, falling handset prices and data tariffs, and the ongoing deployment of mobile broadband network technologies are all contributing to the growth.

Therefore smartphones will come to be regarded as essential, in the same way that personal computers have.

"The process of evolving mobile phones into Internet-centric, highly personalised mobile computers is well underway," said a statement from Andrew Kitson, senior analyst at Juniper Research and author of the report.

"Changes in the design and form of mobile devices, such as the inclusion of large touch-based displays, have been taken to their limits. Looking ahead, the shape and form of next-generation devices will most likely be led by software and content, rather than hardware," he commented.

Juniper also said that vendors are looking to the high-end market to cushion the effects of the recession, despite overall handset sales only growing 5% to 6% in 2008, and their own bleak forecasts.

"Although the mobile device market will record negative growth overall in 2009, the downward shift will be cushioned by strong sales of smartphones," said the report.

What's more, the likes of Nokia, RIM and Apple are set to face new competitors as more technology companies are setting their sights on the smartphone market.

Huawei last November revealed that it is planning to enter the smartphone market in 2009, while the Wall Street Journal reported last week that computer maker Dell has been working on prototype smartphones for over a year, and could enter the market as early as next month. 

Juniper predicts that the greatest proportion of smartphones will be sold in Western Europe, followed by North America, China and the Far East, then Africa and the Middle East.

The smallest market for smartphones is expected to be Eastern Europe.

"This region's comparatively poor showing rests mainly with slow adoption of high-speed wireless networks in certain markets, customers' continued reliance on low-end handsets linked to prepaid tariff plans, and the fact that even comparatively cheap smartphones will be beyond the means of most consumers for some time to come," said Juniper.

Источник: Total Telecom

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