A recent research from Juniper Research (News - Alert) estimates that global smartphone shipments will reach one billion per annum in 2016, up from 302 million in 2010.The market will be mainly driven by the availability of high-end handsets at competitive price. Juniper also believes the tough competition amongst vendors offering premium smartphones will also contribute for the growth of the market.
In this scenario, Juniper believes the best opportunity for new players is through economy models (those with an unsubsidized retail value of $150 or less).In the words of Smartphones report author Daniel Ashdown, “in developed markets, many consumers will want to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone, but still pay a feature phone price. In emerging markets though, lower average consumer spending power and lack of operator subsidies will make a low price point essential”.
The popularity of open source operating systems, predominantly Android (News - Alert), combined with the falling cost of key components will cause the price fall further, according to the research agency.
However, the market for standard smartphones ($151-$399) and premium smartphones ($400 and above) will remain robust. New technologies like near field communications (NFC), 3D, and biometrics will become popular.
High-end smartphones will also integrate features from other devices like gamepads. They may also morph into high-end tablets and netbooks.
Earlier this year, Research and Markets predicted that the average selling price of smartphones devices is expected to reduce from $309 in 2009 to $264 by 2015. However, data theft and operation issues may limit market growth, according to the agency.
Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves