According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments grew a striking 18 percent year-over-year, to 188 million units during Q2 2005 (April - June). Mega-vendors Nokia and Motorola outperformed in emerging markets, to grab an impressive, combined 50 percent share of total sales. Chris Ambrosio, Director of Strategy Analytics' Wireless Device Strategies service, noted, "Strong growth in emerging mobile phone markets, such as South America and Africa, is driving demand for increasing numbers of entry-level devices, precisely the mass-market segments where Nokia and Motorola are among the strongest." "The worldwide handset market is once again becoming concentrated in the hands of just a few major brands," said Neil Mawston, Associate Director of the Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service at Strategy Analytics. "For example, Nokia and Motorola accounted for exactly half the global market in Q2 2005, leaving more than 60 other brands to fight for the remaining 50 percent." Following 361 million handsets sold globally in the first half of 2005, Strategy Analytics forecasts 775 million units for the full-year 2005.
The BaaS model has been adopted across a wide range of industries due to its ability to streamline financial processes for non-banks and foster innovation. BaaS has several industry-specific use cases, where it creates new revenue streams. Banking as a Service (BaaS) is rapidly emerging as a growth market, allowing non-bank businesses to integrate banking services into their core products and online platforms. As defined by Juniper Research, BaaS is "the delivery and integration of digital banking services by licensed banks, directly into the products of non-banking businesses, commonly through the use of APIs." BaaS Market Development The core idea is that licensed banks can rent out their regulated financial infrastructure through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to third-party Fintechs and other interested companies. This enables those organizations to offer banking capabilities like payment processing, account management, and debit or credit card issuance without