Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totaled 968 million units in 2013, witnessing an increase of 42.3 per cent over 2012, says Gartner.
Further, smartphone sales accounted for 53.6 per cent of overall mobile phone sales in 2013, and exceeded annual sales of feature phones for the first time. Strong sales of the iPhone 5s and continued strong demand for the 4s in emerging markets helped Apple register record sales of 50.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2013. However, in this period, mobile phone sales in mature regions declined due to weaker demand. Mature markets exhibited limited growth potential as the markets are saturated with smartphone sales, reporting a decline in the feature phone market and a longer replacement cycle.
While Samsung?s share in the smartphone space increased in 2013, it declined by 1.6 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2013. This was mainly due to a saturated high-end smartphone market in developed regions. The research firm states that it is critical for Samsung to continue to build on its technology leadership at the high end. Samsung will also need to build a clearer value proposition around its midrange smartphones, defining simpler user interfaces, pushing the right features as well as seizing the opportunity of bringing innovations to stand out beyond price in this growing segment. Huawei smartphone sales grew by 85.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013 and it maintained its third position in the smartphone market. Huawei has moved quickly to align its organisation to focus on the global market. The company?s overseas expansion delivered strong results in the fourth quarter of 2013, with growth in the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
Lenovo witnessed its smartphone sales in 2013 increase by 102.3 per cent and by 63.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013. Going forward, Lenovo?s acquisition of Motorola from Google is expected to provide the company an opportunity to expand within the US. In addition, the acquisition will also provide Lenovo with patent protection and allow it to expand rapidly across the global market.
Gartner expects smartphones to continue to drive overall sales in 2014 and an increasing number of manufacturers will realign their portfolios to focus on the low-cost smartphone sector. However, the sales of high-end smartphones will decline as increasing sales of low-and mid-price smartphones in high-growth emerging markets will shift the product mix to lower-end devices. This will lead to a decline in average selling price and a slowdown in revenue growth.
