Annual sales of low-cost mobile handsets aimed primarily at consumers in emerging markets, with with possible implications for the prepaid segment, will grow 22 percent between 2009 and 2014, to over 700 million units, say researchers at Juniper Research.
In some ways the handset market is bifurcating, with interest focused both at the high end smart phone segment and the low end segment.
Efforts by industry players to lower the total cost of ownership for devices and services to below $5 are already reaping benefits in markets such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, Juniper Research says.
Meanwhile, players such as Nokia are developing invaluable content-driven services that will encourage first-time mobile users to keep on using their devices and improving their standards of living.
“With around 80 percent of new mobile users set to come from emerging markets over the next six years, it is essential that operators and vendors work together to dilute the price barriers associated with mobile technology and to provide ongoing support through the development of specific social and personal services, such as Nokia’s Life Tools suite," says Andrew Kitson, Juniper Research analyst.
The Africa and Middle East region will account for the largest annual shipment volume by 2014, with its 166 million low-cost handsets representing 24 percent of all sales that year and up by 54 percent between 2009 and 2014.
With smart phones projected to account for 27 percent of mobile device shipments in 2014 (up from 13 percent in 2008), the market is effectively polarising into two groupings: entry-level and high-end devices.
At some point, the broad trend should result in new options for lower-price smart phones, and that could open up new mobile broadband segments, including both postpaid and prepaid.
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