Countries ranked in top five positions in 2018 would account for 51 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments even though the BRIC countries would account for 33 percent of smartphone shipments says a prediction by ABI
The BRIC countries, which are Brazil, Russia, India and China, will take their places among the top seven smartphone markets in 2018, according to ABI Research.
The report says that China will displace the US as the largest smartphone market in 2013, while Brazil and India are also forecasted to be in the top four countries for smartphone shipments by 2018.
Russia on the other hand taking the eleventh position of being the largest smartphone market in 2013 and will get an upgrade to 7th in 2018, said ABI Research analysts.
“With room to grow, the emerging BRIC nations are displacing established markets such as the US and Japan as market leaders in terms of smartphone shipments,” stated senior analyst, Michael Morgan from ABI Research.
The research further said that the top five countries in 2018 would account for 51 percent of worldwide smartphone shipments while the BRIC countries would account for 33 percent of smartphone shipments.
By 2018, Western Europe and North Americas’ share of smartphone shipments would be 33 percent down from 39 percent in 2013.
The predication further said that the growth of smartphone market in the coming five years will depend on operators depend on operators and handset OEMs delivering enhanced and price appropriate solutions to the BRIC consumers.
In terms of total handset shipments, the BRIC countries are already in the top five, but have trailed behind in their global smartphone share.
In a span of two years, Android pairing with low cost hardware has opened the door to increasingly lower average selling price for smartphones noted the research report.
“When you look at operating system share in emerging markets, you tend to find that Android has been busy fulfilling its mission to bring the Internet to consumers who can’t afford a traditional PC or laptop,” added ABI Research senior practice director Jeff Orr.
