Tag: smartphone

Smartphones will outpace feature phones in 2013

Posted on March 5, 2013 by - News, Products

nexus4-ceSmartphones have become so affordable and readily available in all markets that they are finally expected to outsell feature phones this year. It is not a “nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition” sort of thing, since smartphone shipments have gone from strength to strength for years.

IDC’s latest report forecasts that 918.6 million smartphones will be shipped this year, accounting for 50.1 percent of all mobile phone shipments.

The research outfit says it based its predictions on falling prices of smartphones and increased consumer interest, which probably has something to do with the fact that smartphones are getting dirt cheap. With 4G services being rolled out in major markets, IDC expects smartphone shipments to hit 1.5 billion units by 2017.

China is expected to be the biggest market in 2013, as IDC estimates it will gobble up 301.2 million smartphones. The US ranks second with 137.5 million, way ahead of the UK and Japan, tied in third place with 35 million, reports The Next Web. 

The BRIC march continues in fifth and sixth spot, which will go to Brazil and India respectively. However, by 2017 India will rank third and consume 155.6 million smartphones. Brazil will see plenty of growth as well, going from 28.9 million to 66.3 million units by 2017.

In other words, smartphone makers will have to start designing more devices with emerging markets in mind, which means we might see a bit more emphasis on value moving forward.

Slow Ultrabook sales hurt NAND suppliers in 2012

Posted on February 11, 2013 by - News, Products

nand-chipsGlobal NAND memory revenue fell seven percent in 2012, on the back of lackluster Ultrabook sales.

Although demand for smartphones remains strong, IHS iSuppli reports that NAND industry revenue fell to $19.7 billion last year, down from $21.2 billion in 2011. IHS expects revenue to rebound this year and reach $22.4 billion. Sales should continue expanding over the next few years.

Apple’s iPhone gobbled up 10.5 percent of all NAND shipments in 2012. An average iPhone shipped with 24.5GB of NAND, which means most consumers still opt for the entry level 16GB model. All other smartphones combined used 10.5 percent.

Although there was plenty of growth in mobile, IHS iSuppli concluded that Ultrabook demand failed to meet expectations. Ultrabooks have had some success penetrating the consumer market, but overall adoption remains underwhelming.

On the whole, NAND production slowed sown in mid 2012 in order to stabilise and reduce inventory. IHS iSuppli now says manufacturers need to tightly manage their supply in the first half of 2013, as the first six months of the year are seasonally a weak period for the industry.

An increasing number of vendors are focusing solely on internal storage and ditching microSD slots in tablets and smartphones. While this trend might be good for NAND demand in the short term, emerging technologies such as cloud storage coupled with 4G could pose a challenge down the road.