Stort marked for low-cost Android smartphones
Analysefirmaet In-Stat forventer, at der vil solgt omkring 240 mio. low-cost Android-baserede smartphones i 2015 (in english)
In many parts of the world, the typical Android smartphone, selling for $400 to $500, is out of reach for many consumers that currently have a feature phone or perhaps no phone at all.
These potential smartphone owners currently only have one OS choice in the low-cost category, (under-$150) and that is Android. New In-Stat research forecasts that unit shipments for low-cost Android smartphones will approach 340 million worldwide in 2015.
- The low-cost Android handset segment will cause some fragmentation in the Android platform, says Allen Nogee, Research Director.
- Most low-cost Android smartphones are likely to be released with Android 2.2 or 2.3, since these versions are a good blend of features with modest memory and processor usage. The Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) step-up in memory and processor demands makes this release less attractive for low-cost Android devices.
Recent In-Stat research found:
• The low-cost smartphone area is Android’s to lose. This market could get much more competitive, especially as other OS vendors begin to target the space.
• The low-end low-cost smartphones generally stick with EDGE and processors running at 600MHz speeds or less, and a single-core EDGE chip sells for well under $10. For our purposes, low-cost means smartphones that are $150 or less.
• Smaller phone manufacturers will sometimes purchase from the “gray market” where component manufacturers typically don't pay licensee fees, royalties, and taxes for the products they produce.
• Early competitors in the market include Huawei, MicroMax, Motorola, Samsung, Spice, and ZTE.
www.in-stat.com
