Smartphone shipments in India, Indonesia, Russia to double: IDC

Smartphone shipments in emerging telecom markets like India, Indonesia and Russia will more than double between now and 2018, said IDC.

Worldwide smartphone shipments will increase 23.1 percent to 1.2 billion units in 2014 from 1.0 billion units in 2013. Volumes will reach 1.8 billion units in 2018, resulting in a 12.3 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2013-2018.

China will account for nearly a third of all smartphone shipments in 2018, said IDC.

The average selling price (ASP) of smartphones will decline 6.3 percent to $314 in 2014 from $335 in 2013. ASPs are expected to reach $267 by 2018. While these prices point to a definite decline, users still expect top-notch experiences regardless of what smartphone they purchase, said IDC.

Motorola India to launch new smartphone on May 13

Ryan Reith, program director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, said: “Given the competition at the high end, vendors like Motorola are trying to skate to where the puck is going by offering extremely affordable devices like the Moto E, which offer a good enough experience that will suit the needs of many.”

Google Android OS market share will reach 80.2 percent in 2014. Android will lose a minimal amount of share over the forecast period, mainly as a result of Windows Phone growth. Android has been, and will continue to be, the platform driving low-cost devices.

ASPs of Android smartphones will be $254 in 2014, dropping to $215 in 2018. Growth of Android phones is expected to outpace the market in 2014, rising 25.6 percent with volume just shy of 1 billion units.

Apple iOS share will drop from 14.8 percent in 2014 to 13.7 percent in 2018. iOS volumes will touch 184.1 million in 2014 and 247.4 million in 2018. Growth of 20 percent this year will slowly drop to 6.1 percent in 2018.

Windows Phone volumes are expected to grow 29.5 percent to 43.3 million in 2014 over 2013. Windows Phone shipments will reach 65.9 million units in 2015 and 115.3 million in 2018.

BlackBerry OS volumes will drop 49.6 percent to 9.7 million units in 2014. Volumes will decline to 4.6 million units in 2018.