Market research firm IDC has published the latest edition of its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. The report indicates that smartphone shipments show no sign of slowing down. Shipments will reach 472 million in 2011 (up 55% from 2010 when 305 million shipped) and will nearly double by 2015 to 982 million by 2015. Among the factors cited supporting this growth are falling average selling prices, increased phone functionality, and lower-cost data plans.
“The smartphone floodgates are open wide,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “Mobile phone users around the world are turning in their ‘talk-and-text’ devices for smartphones as these devices allow users to perform daily tasks like shopping and banking from anywhere. The growth trend is particularly pronounced in emerging markets where adoption is still in its early days. As a result, the growth in regions such as Asia/Pacific and Latin America, will be dramatic over the coming years.”
IDC expects that Google Android, already the leading operating system worldwide, will continue to dominate with its market share climbing over 40% by 2015. Benefiting from Nokia’s partnership, Microsoft’s Windows Phone is predicted to become the second most popular OS (with a market share over 20%). Apple’s iOS (16.9%), RIM (13.4%), and Symbian (0.1%) will complete the top 5. Interestingly, HP’s webOS does not figure in the top 5 but IDC points out that there is a “huge opportunity for competing operating systems to gain footing” as Symbian’s expense.