The Smart Phone market has heated up to boiling point over the last few years. You could argue that Blackberry begun the market with its early Internet-capable phones, but it was the launch of the first iPhone that exploded the market.
Since the introduction of iPhone from Apple, in 2007, the boundaries of functionality, performance, and touch-screen capacity have been stretched to their maximum.
New innovations have blown up left, right, and center. The screens have got better and better. The cameras have attained and surpassed the stand alone digital camera standard of the recent past. And there are now hundreds of thousands of application for users to choose from to enhance their phone experience.
2012 was a big year for the Smart phone market. The iPhone 5 was released. Samsung broought out their superb Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2; and HTC started to rebound with their Droid DNA and HTC 1x.
The Smart Phone Market is Expanding
Ever since iPhone launched, the Smart Phone Market has expanded year on year. 2012 soar a record high with 45% of all phones that were sold fitting into the Smart Phone category. In 2011, only 37% of worldwide sales were Smart Phones, so this 8% rise clearly demonstrates a big move.
Many of the emerging markets have begun to be tapped, but there is still lots of opportunity in regions like China and India. Increasingly wealthy middle classes in these developing countries will be hungry for good Smart Phone possibilities.
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Rumors about innovations for 2013 are rife. Apparently, Samsung are going to release a dual screen phone. A phone that folds up and when extended out forms a 5.3 in double screen with the seam barely visible. The Chinese are looking at a dramatic shift in screen capacity, moving from megapixels to ultrapixels.
Every company seems to have their innovative dimension. It’s no wonder that Apple has been fighting Samsung over patent infringements and is protective of their technology. Apple would love to patent the concept of a smartphone, but that cannot happen.
What all this adds up to?
All of this adds up to a great market for consumers. Ever since the recession of 2008, companies around the world have been losing share prices and falling backwards. The telecom sector has been buoyant, one of few sectors to achieve growth throughout recession. It is clear that the market is able to thrive through adversity and therefore most manufacturers are continuing to research and innovate in order to capture their share of the spoils.
Where Do We Go from Here?
There are no imminent price falls. Top-tier phones will continue to be very expensive for the next few years, though the prices of individual models will fall when they are replaced by newer models.
Contract deals will gradually include more minutes, data and texts but will not fall in price because that would reduce the networks’ profits.
It will be a few years yet before smartphone prices fall to the level where people are happy to lay out the cash to purchase them outright. At some point in the next three or four years there will be a massive price fall and pay monthly deals will die, like TV rental died when television prices became affordable.
Phil TurnerAbout the Author:
Phil Turner thinks that pay monthly deals currently offer great value, sometimes working out cheaper than buying a phone outright.