Developed countries may be reaching their peak when it comes to smartphone sales. The real action in the months to come will be in emerging markets, according to a new report from GfK Target Setter.
This latest report shows that next year emerging markets will overtake wealthier countries in technology growth by value.
Here are some highlights:
- Global smartphone sales are set to grow by 18% in 2015. Much of that will be driven by developing markets led by India, China, and Indonesia.
- The US, Japan, and the UK – which were among the top 5 growth markets in 2014 – didn’t even make the top 10 this time around.
- The only incumbents were India, China, and Brazil.
- The 7 new entrants are Indonesia, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
- If one looks at the wider technology device space, almost half of the growth will take place in India at 16%, followed by Pakistan (15%), and Nigeria and Bangladesh (both at 13%).
The reasons cited for this growth is that smartphone pricing has reached the $30 to $50 “sweet spot” which will make it affordable to a major population segment. The same thing happened a decade ago when low-end feature phones made them affordable.
Another contributing factor not mentioned in the report is the fact that DSL infrastructures are costly and these countries have traditionally gravitated to mobile for their internet needs, including television delivery.
From our perspective, this is a stronger case than ever for uninterrupted indoor coverage.
What’s your sweet spot for smartphone pricing?
By the CEL-FI Team