Smartphones will account for growing share of total handset sales, expanding from 16 percent in 2009 to 37 percent in 2014

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Smartphone Forecast - Operator Strategies Will Fuel Growth in Emerging Markets" report to its offering.

Emerging markets will become the leading growth engine for smartphone sales over the next five years. China will become the biggest smartphone market in 2010, and other key markets such as Brazil, India, Turkey and Nigeria will record CAGRs above 30 percent through 2014. Understanding local conditions will be vital for operators, smartphone vendors and OS developers.

This report examines the state of the global smartphone market today, focusing on operator and vendor strategies. It also looks at the intense struggle for market dominance among the various software platforms: Symbian, BlackBerry OS, iPhone OS, Windows Mobile, Android and Palm's various systems. All this is put into context with an analysis of the mobile services market and the overall handset market.

The report investigates in detail the state of the smartphone markets in eight crucial markets: Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, the UK and the US. These case studies contain forecasts of such metrics as handset sales by generation, annual smartphone sell-through and market shares by operating system. Each one also contains detailed data on a key mobile operator in the market.

Key findings include:
* The smartphone opportunity over the next five years — 2010 through 2014 — represents sales of 1.8bn units.
* Emerging markets are taking the lead role in smartphone adoption globally: China is overtaking the US as the largest market in 2010, while Brazil, India, Nigeria and Turkey expanding at compound annual growth rates exceeding 30 percent over the next five years.
* Operators' strategies differ a lot across markets based on the method of payment (postpaid or prepaid), subsidies and the level of competition among operators as well as among vendors.
* In postpaid markets that have no restrictions on subsidies and that produce high competition among operators and vendors, operators such as AT&T in the US are implementing a strategy of aggressive subsidies, attractive unlimited data plans and a variety of smartphone models with exclusive distribution.
* Players in mostly prepaid markets with regulations that prevent handset subsidies, such as MTS in Russia, are focusing on promoting valued-added services using attractive prices and free initial test periods while securing exclusive content.
* In Brazil, a segmented strategy by Vivo that focuses on entry-level consumers with the slogan "My first smartphone" and flexible data plans is generating substantial uptake.
* As operators' strategies vary across countries, so too do the market shares of operating systems. Because of local conditions, the BlackBerry has a strong market position in India, while Linux-based systems do much better in China.

The smartphone market will climb to 37 percent of global handset sales in 2014 with emerging markets as the key growth engine, calling on operators and vendors to make the most of the opportunity, according to this latest report.

Smartphone Forecast: Operator Strategies Will Fuel Growth in Emerging Markets, examines the state of the global smartphone market today, focusing on operator and vendor strategies. It also looks at the intense struggle for market dominance among the various software platforms: Symbian, BlackBerry OS, iPhone OS, Windows Mobile, Android, and Palm's various systems.

All this is put into context with an analysis of the mobile services market and the overall handset market. The report investigates in detail the state of the smartphone markets in eight crucial markets: Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, the UK, and the US These case studies contain forecasts of such metrics as handset sales by generation, annual smartphone sell-through, and market shares by operating system. Each one also contains detailed data on a key mobile operator in the market.

Pyramid estimates that smartphones will account for a growing share of total handset sales, expanding from 16 percent in 2009 to 37 percent in 2014, and will represent an enormous sales opportunity for vendors and service providers across the globe, particularly in emerging markets, notes Omar Salvador, senior analyst at Pyramid Research and lead author of the report.

"Although the US continues to lead the globe in 2009 in smartphone sales, Pyramid expects China to capture the number one position in 2010, driven by operators' aggressive promotion of smartphones using wider portfolios, more attractive pricing for services and new initiatives," says Salvador. "Brazil, India, Turkey, and Nigeria will be the fastest growing markets over the next five years with CAGRs of 43 percent, 39 percent, 37 percent, and 34 percent, respectively. Latin America will be the fastest growing region at a compound annual growth rate of 48 percent, followed by Africa and the Middle East with a 39 percent CAGR," he adds.

"With smartphone and data ARPS growth at the center of the strategies of operators and handset vendors, the two will need to work together to make the most of the opportunity," says Salvador.

"Understanding local conditions will be vital for operators, smartphone vendors, and OS developers, as operator strategies differ substantively across markets based on the method of payment (postpaid or prepaid), the prevalence of subsidies, the level of competition, as well as the market shares of operating systems," he explains.