The Smartphone Market is Expanding
The smartphone market has taken off in the past few years, with the introduction of high-tech phones such extensive mobile capabilities, including the iPhone and BlackBerry. According to IDC, the market is expected to grow 55.4 percent this year. The Android in particular is expected to increase in popularity as well, although not one specific operating system is expected to be significantly more popular than the rest.
In the first half of this year, approximately 119.4 million smartphones were shipped by vendors. Compared to last year, that is 55.5 percent more than what was shipped in the first half of 2009. IDC projects that 269.6 millions smartphones will be sold by the end of this year as opposed to 173.5 million last year.
This influx of demand for smartphones is presumably because of the release of new smartphones, including the iPhone 4, BlackBerry Torch and the EVO 4G. IDC believes that the Android is a “wild card” as IDC analysts are unsure about how Androids will sell in the next year. Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, said, “Phone vendors have been drawn to Android because it allows them to present their own approach to what a smartphone experience can be. In addition, users have quickly warmed to Android, comparing it to iOS due to its ease of use and a growing mobile application storefront.”
According to IDC, Android sales will increase 16.3 percent in the market share this year. By 2014, it should jump to 24.6 percent. Despite the projected increase in popularity for the Android, neither the Android nor any other smartphone will dominate the market.
Another smartphone that is expected to do well is the Windows Phone 7. IDC expects Windows Mobile OS to jump 6.8 percent this year to 9.8 percent by 2014. For the general smartphone market, sales will increase 24.5 percent next year but over the next five years overall sales will begin to decrease again.
There is no doubt that some of IDC’s guesses are correct as the demand for smartphones has rapidly increased over the last year. There are some very high-tech and capable phones out there on the market right now and both consumers and business users want what they have to offer.
[Photo courtesy of linkedin.]
