More smartphones than feature phones are expected to ship globally...
More smartphones than feature phones are expected to ship globally in 2013, which would be a mobile phone industry first, said International Data Corp. Monday. Phone vendors will ship 918.6 million smartphones this year, or 50.1 percent of total mobile…
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phone shipments globally, IDC said. Smartphone prices have fallen globally and “the roll-out of data-centric” 4G wireless networks are major factors that have made the devices so appealing to consumers, it said. By the end of 2017, IDC forecasts 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped globally, which “equates to just over two-thirds of the total mobile phone forecast for the year,” it said. To date, much of the world’s smartphone shipments were from demand in “mature economies” including the U.S., it said. “The balance of smartphone demand is gradually shifting, however, to emerging markets where smartphone user bases are still relatively small and economic prospects are considerably higher,” it said. Smartphone shipments to China, Brazil, and India will make up a growing percentage of shipment volume in each forecast year, it said. China, which passed the U.S. last year as the global leader in smartphone shipments, is “at the forefront of this shift,” it said. China’s share of the global smartphone market will be “diluted somewhat as more smartphones are shipped to India, Brazil, and other emerging markets,” it said.