Smartphones expected to grow 32.7 percent in 2013

USA: According to a new forecast from the International Data Corp. (IDC), Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone shipments are expected to grow 32.7 percent year over year in 2013 reaching 958.8 million units, up from 722.5 million units last year.

2013 will mark the first year that smartphone shipments surpass those of feature phones, with smartphones expected to account for 52.2 percent of all mobile phone shipments worldwide. This trend will continue for years to come as demand for mobile data and handheld computing spreads across both developed and emerging markets. Emerging markets will account for 64.8 percent of all smartphones shipped during 2013, which is up from 43.1 percent in 2010.

Driving smartphones forward has been a perfect combination of strong demand from end users, greater emphasis by both carriers and vendors, and a deep selection of devices available at multiple price points. In addition, user behavior has switched from simple voice telephony to data consumption and creation, and the smartphone has become the ideal tool for many users.

With the rise in global smartphone shipments, demand has quickly spread from developed markets to emerging markets. As a result, smartphone average selling prices (ASPs) have declined to $372 in 2013, down from $407 in 2012 and $443 in 2011. As this trend continues, smartphone ASPs are expected to drop as low as $309 by 2017 with emerging market demand the main catalyst in this change. Computing at such low end-user cost has posed many challenges to handset OEMs and component suppliers.