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gregorrothfuss
The term is totally meaningless. Nokia introduced their first "Smartphone" in ...
Tunrayo
For the developing markets, the cheaper the smartphone, the more revenue the ...
Smartphone growth lies in low-end phones
Rick Merritt
8/5/2010 1:15 PM EDT
ABI declined to share forecasts of growth by software platform, in part because many wild cards are in the deck. One of the biggest ones, Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7, is expected to be released late this year, supported by new handsets from HTC.
Burden said he still has concerns about how well Microsoft's panel-based user interface will scale for users that have large contact lists. "It could get confusing, and Microsoft as big as it is will have a hard time keeping up with the pace of releases of the open source community," he said.
For its part, HTC was been riding the wave of Android growth to date, leaping from sales of 3.3 million to 5.4 million smartphones in the latest quarter. However the company's focus on high-end handsets may also prevent it from capturing the new growth at the low end, Morgan said.
Among the other wild cards, it's not yet clear what Hewlett-Packard will do with the WebOS acquired with Palm. Similarly, plans are unclear for how Nokia will use MeeGo co-developed with Intel or how Samsung will evolve its Bada platform.
Separately, ABI released a new report projecting Apple's iOS and Google's Android will account for 78 percent of all mobile application downloads in 2010, with iOS taking the lion’s share, about 52 percent.
"Downloads from other platforms, such as Blackberry’s App Store and Nokia’s Ovi Store remain sluggish, hampered by a lack of variety and fragmentation among both manufacturers’ many devices,” said wireless research analyst Bhavya Khanna in a press statement.
Average selling prices for mobile apps are declining as Apple, Google and others focus on free and low-cost apps to attract users to their handsets. Making money will become a difficult proposition in a market that is expected to peak in 2011, with annual sales of just under $8 billion, said Khanna.
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junko.yoshida
8/5/2010 2:54 PM EDT
Wait, I am reading this headline that says "Smartphone growth lies in the low-end phone."
I had to do a double take. Huh? What is ABI's definition of a "smartphone" then? I do understand that Nokia is very strong in low-end feature phones, etc., but that is not to say that those feature phones are smartphones...correct? We need clarification.
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http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/poconoarmchairreview
8/5/2010 4:59 PM EDT
Smartphone growth lies in not being so smart.
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Frank Eory
8/5/2010 5:01 PM EDT
I totally agree Junko. "Low-end smartphone" sounds like an oxymoron. Any phone that has a broadband connection -- at least 3G -- and a UI that makes web browsing practical, is by definition a high-end phone.
If ABI's definition of a smartphone is something less than that, then it seems like they are just playing games with the terminology.
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rick.merritt
8/5/2010 5:21 PM EDT
Hi all,
Sorry for any confusion.
The simple answer is: ABI sees the next wave of growth coming from lower cost more mainstream priced smartphones.
ABI is not redefining the smartphone, just noting the trickle down of Moore's Law.
Hope that clarifies things
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gregorrothfuss
8/11/2010 8:36 PM EDT
The term is totally meaningless. Nokia introduced their first "Smartphone" in 2004:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3230
Oh and their first "Superphone" in 2007:
http://gizmodo.com/250589/nokia-n95-superphone-50-screenshot-walkthrough-next-best-thing-to-owning-it
Kinda how everyone in the US enjoys "Broadband".
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chanj
8/5/2010 6:08 PM EDT
Cell phone market grows a lot in the 3rd world countries which are lack of telephone infrastructure. In addition, cell phone users are primarily looking for voice connectivity instead of anywhere Internet. With this said, a low cost, small in size cell phone will usually serve the purpose. The market of smartphone, no doubt, is growing. The margin of selling a smartphone is high too. That's probably why a lot of phone makers, especially the new one, are jumping into the boat. Will smartphone business sustain for a long time? I guess only market can tell.
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Tunrayo
8/9/2010 11:21 AM EDT
For the developing markets, the cheaper the smartphone, the more revenue the company generates. So, if ABI is focusing on making cheap smarthphones, then they have defined the market niche they desire.
Well my guess is the most growth (in volumes) will be experienced by companies like ABI. This is because there are huge numbers of prospective customers in these regions (India and China together have over 2 billion people).
Furthermore, as more and more people move into the middle-class in these countries, they will probably trade their 'low-end' smartphones for the 'high-end' smartphones to reflect their change in social status. And with Apple, Blackberry, etc putting high premiums on their phones, they will probably experience huge growth in revenues as well.
Clearly, it is not easy to build a strong brand and goodwill to compete with companies like Apple and Blackberry. So I would say this is a reasonable strategy for ABI.
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