Smartphones projected to overtake feature phones for the first time in 2013

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
For the first time this year, smartphones like Apple's iPhone and devices running Google Android are expected to outsell limited "feature phones" worldwide, according to a new industry report.



A new report from research firm IDC has smartphone manufacturers shipping 918.6 million devices in 2013. That would amount to 50.1 percent of all mobile phones shipped.

A plurality of these smartphones will be bought in China, which has already surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest market for smartphones. IDC estimates that the 301.2 million total smartphones will ship to the Chinese market in 2013. The United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil are predicted to be the next largest markets.

IDC


IDC notes that India, lagging behind other developing markets in smartphone adoption despite its massive population, represents a largely untapped market. Smartphone manufacturers, including Apple, have been moving to reposition their devices for affordability on the Indian market, with varying degrees of success.

By 2017, IDC puts total worldwide smartphone shipments at 1.5 billion devices, about two-thirds of all mobile phones shipped. By that time, India is projected to be the third largest market for smartphones, behind China and the U.S and ahead of Brazil and the U.K.

Smartphone users currently make up the majority of mobile phone users in the United States, and IDC expects the market to grow slowly in that market for the coming years. Competition from new operating systems ? including BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone 8, and others ? is likely to be a main driver of U.S. smartphone market growth.

IDC's report does not otherwise go into specifics regarding market share projections. Apple's iPhone offerings already occupy the top two slots worldwide in smartphone popularity. Together, the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S account for 21 percent of all smartphones.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member


    Wow.  


     


    1/3 will be sold in China.  


     


    That's a big market.

  • Reply 2 of 22
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Smartphones only represent 15% of all the phones being used in the US? Am I reading that right?
  • Reply 3 of 22
    India is a tough nut to crack because of her languages.
  • Reply 4 of 22

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post



    Smartphones only represent 15% of all the phones being used in the US? Am I reading that right?


     


    15% of worldwide smartphone sales.

  • Reply 5 of 22
    brutus009brutus009 Posts: 356member


    For the first time this year?


    Wow.


    How many times each year does that typically happen?

  • Reply 6 of 22
    chandra69chandra69 Posts: 638member

    Quote:


    India is a tough nut to crack because of her languages.



     


    But, India knows English very much.  And, while Nokia could release its phones all of our 10+ languages, why can't Apple or Google.


     


    India is good at speaking English.  Not like Chinese.  See the American High end Job Market.  Indians.

  • Reply 7 of 22
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    WS analysts: "IDC's report does not otherwise go into specifics regarding market share projections" = not good news for Apple.
  • Reply 8 of 22
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member


    Read it again. They say SHIPPED. That doesn't necessarily equal sold. Especially in terms of percents by each company.

  • Reply 9 of 22
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    Read it again. They say SHIPPED. That doesn't necessarily equal sold. Especially in terms of percents by each company.



     


    "Shipments" means "sales" in reports like this.

  • Reply 10 of 22
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    kdarling wrote: »
    <span style="line-height:1.231;">"Shipments" means "sales" in reports like this.</span>
    No he is right channel stuffing versus a sale are two distinct things.
    I know you are a Samsung troll but please take of your blinkers it will help you see the real world.
    So how many Samsung phones have been SOLD? A billion in your books, yet when taken to court to pay the fine, Samsung states 1/10 as much. Remember the smooth sales of the galaxy 7 tab. 2 million, what was the real figure?
  • Reply 11 of 22
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hfts View Post

    I know you are a Samsung troll but please take of your blinkers it will help you see the real world.


    Tossing around insults hoping to get an emotional reply puts you well on your way to Troll-dom. There's really nothing gained from name-calling.

  • Reply 12 of 22
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    My uo[quote name="Gatorguy" url="/t/156277/smartphones-projected-to-overtake-feature-phones-for-the-first-time-in-2013#post_2287563"]Tossing around insults hoping to get an emotional reply puts you well on your way to Troll-dom. There's really nothing gained from name-calling.
    [/quot
    My aren't we quick today.
    Actually lies must be identified as such.
    You are the gold standard of a troll, I aspire to be like you one day. Actually I don't as I have a life not some hate-filled fantasy world that you and he inhabit.
    Anyway let him defend himself or are you and him the same person? Mmmmm, food for thought.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by hfts View Post

    I know you are a Samsung troll…


     


    If he really is one, his own posts will point that out more than anything else. Go ahead and just prove them wrong instead of using saying this as an excuse not to.

  • Reply 14 of 22
    hftshfts Posts: 386member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    If he really is one, his own posts will point that out more than anything else. Go ahead and just prove them wrong instead of using saying this as an excuse not to.



    Point taken.


    I suggest you ask GG where the insults were in my first reply to KD.


    There are none.


    I already questioned him with regards to shipped versus sold, did you read?


    He, as usual blatantly lies or spins. I caught him out, again. Enough said.

  • Reply 15 of 22
    hftshfts Posts: 386member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Tossing around insults hoping to get an emotional reply puts you well on your way to Troll-dom. There's really nothing gained from name-calling.



    No insults, unlike your earlier replies to me.


    Report me then.


    As you are defending him, go and defend his statement.


    I refuted it, but as usual I won't get a reply, or if I do it will have URLs all over the place.


    Please try to argue in your own words.

  • Reply 16 of 22
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


     


    "Shipments" means "sales" in reports like this.



    Only in the way that some illiterates write/read this.

  • Reply 17 of 22
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Only in the way that some illiterates write/read this.



     


     


    IDC might be wrong, but they're hardly illiterate.


     


    This is a forecast of overall world shipments (which are the same as sales, since all manufacturers... including Apple... count shipments as sales).  


     


    It has nothing to do with individual manufacturers, unless there's another chart that my browser isn't showing.


     


    I mean, what are some people trying to claim, that smartphones really won't sell as much as feature phones?  Or that the China numbers will be shipments, while the US numbers are sales?


     


    Pretty bizarre arguments.


     

  • Reply 18 of 22
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


     


    IDC might be wrong, but they're hardly illiterate.



    Nah, they conflate the two repeatedly. Eminently qualifies for 'illiterate' in my book.


     


    As I said, it's not only the ones that write that... but also the ones that read it that way.....

  • Reply 19 of 22
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Nah, they conflate the two repeatedly. Eminently qualifies for 'illiterate' in my book.


     


    As I said, it's not only the ones that write that... but also the ones that read it that way.....



     


    They conflate them because they're basically the same thing:  sales to retailers (and to end users if the manufacturer has their own stores).


     


    For example, Apple reports a sale when they ship a device to a retailer.  Samsung reports a sale when a device is delivered to a retailer.


     


    What people get confused about, is thinking that these reported retailer "sales" during a period are the same thing as "end user sales", which is rarely the case.   Sometimes they're higher, sometimes they're lower.

  • Reply 20 of 22
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member


    The veracity of an oft-repeated claim that Verizon salespeople are paid bonuses to sell non-iPhone smartphones was proved wrong today. Verizon's CFO addressed it specifically:


     


     


    "Shammo was asked about the opportunity to incentivize employees to sell non-Apple devices that would also come with lower subsidies for Verizon:


    The answer is, no, we don’t and it is critical that we don’t do that. The reason for that is because what is more important for us is when a customer walks into a store that customer walks out with a phone that they will be happy with and not return under our 30-day guarantee. Because the worst thing that can happen for us is for me to incentivise a salesperson to get you into a phone that you walk out the door with thinking you are going to like and in three days you come back because you don’t like it. Therefore, now I’ve just subsidized two smartphones because that phone you used I can’t resell as a new phone."


    Courtesy of 9to5.

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