The arrival of Apple’s iPhone in China is poised to accelerate the
worldwide smartphone market, according to a Sept. 10 report from
researcher iSuppli.
iSuppli expects worldwide factory shipments of smartphones to rise to
235.6 million units in 2010 — a growth of 27.9 percent from 2009’s
184.2 million units. By 2011, shipments are expected to reach 334.1
million units, before climbing to 444.5 million units in 2013.
“China Unicom’s move to start selling iPhones in China starting in the fourth quarter
will sound the starting gun for China’s smartphone market,” said
iSuppli Senior Analyst Tina Teng in a statement. “The arrival of the
iPhone has compelled China Unicom’s competitor, China Mobile, to
introduce its own smartphone products and app store, helping to boost
the market.”
Apple has a three-year agreement to sell iPhones to China Unicom and on
Sept. 1 Apple confirmed that the deal was not exclusive, intimating
that a deal might still be struck with China Mobile.
iSuppli reports that smartphone acceptance is growing along with the
deployment of 3G networks in China. The researcher expects smartphone
shipments in China to reach 21.2 million units in 2009, before jumping
by 42.5 percent in 2010 for a total of 30.2 million units. Numbers are
expected to keep climbing, with shipments to China reaching 54.3
million in 2012 and 63.6 million units in 2013.
Another reason for the growth, says Teng, is the maturity of the
market, which is opening up opportunities for multiple players, such as
device manufacturers, operators, semiconductor vendors and platform
providers.
“There has been broad deployment of 3G networks worldwide, a
proliferation of wireless broadband services and the rising
availability of various multimedia applications for mobile devices,
With all this in place, wireless network operators are expected to
offer competitive data service plans and aggressive subsidies to reduce
consumer smartphone prices,” said Teng.
“Furthermore, in encouraging customers to upgrade, wireless
operators and handset brands are promoting the value smartphones
deliver to consumers, rather than just playing up the hardware.”
iSuppli describes smartphones as a bright spot in a dour cell phone
market, which is expected to decline by 12.3 percent in 2009.
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