Smartphones Outgrow Feature Phones Worldwide

In 2013  the number of smartphones will outgrow the number of feature phones that will be shipped, making it a first in the mobile phone market on an annual basis. A recent study from International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, says vendors will ship 918.6 million smartphones this year, or 50.1%  from the total number of phones delivered worldwide.

Smartphone prices decreased at a global scale, the variety is bigger than ever, and the roll-out of data-centric fourth-generation (4G) wireless networks are three factors that have made these “do-it-all” devices an increasingly attractive option for users. By the end of 2017, IDC estimates that 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide, meaning just over two-thirds of the total mobile phone forecast for the year due to these primary factors. The five top markets are China, US, India, Brazil and UK.

If we take a closer look at the US market, according to the January report from comScore 129.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (55% mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in January, up 7 percent since October. Apple takes the first place as OEM with 37.8 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 3.5 percentage points from October) while Samsung ranked second with 21.4 percent market share (up 1.9 percentage points).

When it comes to the top platform, Apple got a 3.5% boost while all the others lost ground.