The year of smartphones – that’s what we can call 2013 to be as new data from IDC reveals that over 1 billion smartphones were shipping during 2013.
Global smartphone shipment in 2013 stood at 1,004.2 million units, up 38.4 percent from 2012’s 725.3 million units, IDC said in its report.
Samsung with 314 million smartphones shipped and 31.3 per cent market share continued to be the clear winner in the smartphone segment. Next in the list was Apple with 153.4 million smartphones shipped accounting for 15.3 per cent market share.
Meanwhile, Huawei with 48.8 million units and 4.9 per cent market share maintained its number 3 position globally. LG with 4.8 per cent market share and Lenovo with 4.5 per cent share stood at fourth and fifth slot respectively.
Smartphones accounted for around 55.1 percent of the total mobile handsets shipped in 2013, up 41.7 percent from last year.
Vendors shipped more than 284.4 million smartphones worldwide, up 24.2 percent from previous year’s 229.0 million in the fourth quarter alone.
Demand for budget Smartphones
Research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team, Ramon Llamas said “The sheer volume and strong growth attest to the smartphone’s continued popularity in 2013”.
“Total smartphone shipments reached 494.4 million units worldwide in 2011, and doubling that volume in just two years demonstrates strong end-user demand and vendor strategies to highlight smartphones.”
Program director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Ryan Reith, attributed the surge in smartphone shipments to increased demand in emerging and budget savvy markets including China and India. Reith said, “Cheap devices are not the attractive segment that normally grabs headlines, but IDC data show this is the portion of the market that is driving volume”.
“Markets like China and India are quickly moving toward a point where sub-$150 smartphones are the majority of shipments, bringing a solid computing experience to the hands of many.”
