Smartphone shipments in 2013 will account for 54 percent of total cellphone market

Telecom Lead India: Smartphone
shipments in 2013 will account for 54 percent of the total cellphone market, up
from 46 percent in 2012 and 35 percent in 2011.

The year 2013 will mark the first time that smartphones will
make up more than half of all cellphone shipments.

Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at
HIS, said over the past 12 months, smartphones have fallen in price, and a
variety of models have become available, spurring sales of both low-end
smartphones in regions like Asia-Pacific, as well as midrange to high-end
phones in the United States and Europe.

The solid expansion in both shipments and market share this
year of smartphones will make them the leading type of mobile phone for the
first time, and shipment growth in the double digits will continue for the next
few years.

By 2016, smartphones will represent 67.4 percent of the
total cellphone market.

Accounting for less than 50 percent of the market this year,
smartphones will become the single largest cellphone segment by the end of
2012, surpassing feature phones.

By 2016, feature phones will be confined to a market share
of 28 percent.

The entry-level and ultra-low-cost handset, will have
approximately 14 percent share this year and end up with 4.2 percent share by
2016.

Samsung became the worldwide leader in handsets during the
first quarter, displacing Nokia, which had occupied the top spot for over a
decade and is now at No. 2. Apple, ZTE and LG Electronics rounded out the Top
5, accounting for 75.5 percent of all handset shipments.

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