Smartphone shipments are expected to grow 21% this year to 224 million, according to the latest forecasts from ABI Research.
Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting, said that while there was considerable fanfare and interest around the latest iPhone and Android phones from Apple, HTC and Motorola, ‘White Box’ or ‘Shanzai’ handset manufacturers are rapidly reshaping the low-cost handset segment as they redefine the ‘look and feel’ of the low-cost/ultra-low-cost segments.
According to ABI Research, many of the low-cost handset brands, sail pretty close to trademark infringement and have very localised distribution. These limited-function handsets, along with low-cost models, will notch up 219 million sales in 2010.
After four quarters of decline, the global mobile handset market has shown signs of rebound starting in 4Q 2009 with an expectation of further growth in 2010.
ABI Research revealed that a 7% drop compared to 2009, 2.5G handsets still hold the lead in the market, and set to account for approximately 50% of this year’s total handset shipments.
The decline in 2.5G handset shipments is expected to accelerate, taking 2.5G to 25% of the total market by 2015. The 3G handset market is forecast to show an 8% increase compared to last year. Total 3G handsets shipments should surpass 2.5G from 2011 to take the lion’s share in 2015 with 68%, ABI Research said.
Celia Bo, industry analyst, said: "Total shipments of mobile handsets are projected to hit 1.3 billion in 2010, and are forecast to surpass 1.7 billion in 2015.
"Moving to 3G technologies and beyond, increasing demand for smartphones is a key factor that will drive market expansion over the next five years."
