According to NPD DisplaySearch, smartphones will account for 82 per cent of the total volume of handsets shipped during 2017 and global smartphone shipments will reach 1.8 billion in 2017.
The growth in the smartphone market will be driven by the Asia-Pacific region where China alone is expected to comprise 30 per cent of the smartphone market by 2017, with shipment volumes forecast to witness a growth of 63 per cent in 2013. The smartphone market is being driven by entry-level smartphones from international brands and white-box vendors in emerging markets. In addition, aggressive pricing by manufacturers is further going to encourage a large number of first time smartphone buyers to upgrade their existing handsets.
NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that the long term evolution-enabled smartphones will witness encouraging uptake with a large number of 4G rollouts worldwide. In 2017, LTE-enabled smartphone shipments are expected to reach 41 per cent of the total handsets to be shipped in 2017. However, large scale worldwide adoption of 3G HSPA technology will continue to lead global smartphone shipments with a market share of 51 per cent.
Despite being introduced in 2013, the research firm expects full-HD displays to become the dominant smartphone resolution, reaching 43 per cent market share by 2017. NPD DisplaySearch also expects the first quad-HD (2160p) displays to be launched in 2014, and achieve 16 per cent market penetration by the end of 2017.
