Last year, a greater number of smartphones than standard mobile phones were sold in the Christmas trading period for the first time. This positive trend is attributable to smartphone prices being increasingly attractive. A range of new premium features are also stimulating sales for devices in the mid and top price ranges. These are findings on the telecommunications market put together by GfK for the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2012, demand for smartphones increased globally by 56 percent to 720 million devices. At the same time, the market for standard mobile phones diminished by 14 percent to 886 million. Ultimately, however, overall sales of mobile phones by retailers increased on the previous year’s figure by 7 percent.
Demand for smartphones is rising sharply in China, in particular. In 2012, the year-on-year rise in sales was 34 percent in Europe, while in Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), sales shot up by 133 percent. For the year as a whole, two out of every three phones sold in the Chinese region were therefore smartphones. The Chinese market is not only recording the greatest growth rates, it also has the highest share of smartphones in the overall market for mobile phones. In contrast, only around 50 percent of all mobile phone sales in Europe are attributable to smartphones. Standard mobile phones continue to dominate in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
