Generating an ample amount of buzz and a fair share of headlines to boot is the latest market projection shared Tuesday by IDC.
With rapidly decreasing smartphone costs serving as the catalyst for this market reality, smartphone shipments are accelerating rapidly around the world today.
IDC expects smartphone ASPs to be $337, down -12.8% from $387 in 2012. This trend will continue in the years to come and IDC expects smartphone ASPs to gradually drop to $265 by 2017.
Consequently, worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass 1 billion units in 2013, representing 39.3% growth over 2012.
Despite a number of mature markets nearing smartphone saturation, the demand for low-cost computing in emerging markets continues to drive the smartphone market forward. By 2017, total smartphone shipments are expected to approach 1.7 billion units, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4% from 2013 to 2017.
“The game has changed quite drastically due to the decline in smartphone ASPs,” explains Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “Just a few years back the industry was talking about the next billion people to connect, and it was assumed the majority of these people would do so by way of the feature phone. Given the trajectory of ASPs, smartphones are now a very realistic option to connect those billion users.”
Consistent with expectations and projections made throughout 2013, from a volume perspective, emerging markets including Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA) will all post “market-beating growth rates from 2013 to 2017.”
