Smartphone shipments are set grow by 39.3% to reach over 1 billion units in 2013 IDC reports, thanks to demand for low-cost computing in emerging markets and the steady decline of average selling prices (ASPs).
According to the analyst smartphone shipments will total 1.7 billion by 2017 with a CAGR of 18.4% for the 2013-2017 period. Meanwhile ASPs are down from $387 in 2012 to $337 in 2013 (a -12.8% reduction), and should drop further to $265 by 2017.
"The game has changed quite drastically due to the decline in smartphone ASPs," IDC says. "Just a few years back the industry was talking about the next billion people to connect, and it was assumed the majority of these people would do so by way of the feature phone. Given the trajectory of ASPs, smartphones are now a very realistic option to connect those billion users."
When it comes to volume, emerging markets such as MEA (together with Asia/Pacific and Latin America) will see "post market-beating" growth during 2013-2017, while developed markets see market share erosion if with increasing volume.
Either way, the global smartphone market will continue to grow as ASPs fall.
