Skip to main content

Ultra-Economy Smartphones will Drive New Innovation

The common application thread that define smartphones is that they are no longer just for talking and texting, but can satisfy many different needs -- how a device fulfills those expectations generally decides the relative position within the market. Price is often a key deciding factor.

According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, a new Ultra-Low cost generation of smartphones are emerging, capturing large volumes of first-time mobile internet users within the emerging markets.

Juniper forecasts almost 200 million in shipments by 2018 -- that's compared to nearly 10 million forecast in 2014.

On a global scale, this means that the Ultra-Premium end of the smartphone market is set to diminish proportionally by volume over time, not due to a drop in sales but a faster level of growth at other price points.

Juniper's latest assessment argues that this new generation of devices will permanently change the market -- splitting the global market in two -- with the developed high margin low volume markets on one side and low margin high volume markets on the other.

The Ultra-Premium smartphone market is currently dominated by Apple and Samsung with contenders such as HTC struggling to find a consistent foothold.

However, due to fierce competition in the middle part of the smartphone market, this could be about to change as these players will begin to face competition from emerging markets as players such as Xiaomi and Oppo search for higher profit margins.


An Open Market for Differentiated Perspectives

These new players are utilizing different tactics; Xiaomi are taking a holistic approach to the consumer and planning to offer additional services to the user, thus subsidizing their high performance devices.

Juniper says that they believe this extra competition in the Ultra-Premium end of the market is a boon to the consumer -- the more competition a market has the faster the rate of innovation.

Even the established players themselves may benefit as a faster rate of innovation will shake off the perception that this segment of the market is stagnating in terms of truly innovative technologies.

Juniper also notes that as the market matures, opportunities for new paradigms will begin to emerge. For example, modular designed devices such as the Phone Bloks concept or devices that make an ethical stance such as the Fair Phone.

These new paradigms could allow the consumer a choice in smartphone that may align with their personality more than a device from the current generation of vendors.

Popular posts from this blog

Global EV Charging Revenue to Exceed $300B

During 2022, fuel prices increased very quickly, partly due to a number of macroeconomic reasons. In fact, the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic are still impacting fuel prices, with many oil refineries having reduced capacity due to a prior fall in demand. Those significant events and other trends have created a demand for a growing variety of Electric Vehicles (EVs). While EVs have existed for decades, they really became a viable option for more consumers during the past five years. However, although EVs are suitable for some buyer needs, their usability is constrained by the current availability of battery charging infrastructure. EV Charging Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenue from electric vehicle charging will exceed $300 billion globally by 2027 -- that's up from $66 billion in 2023. Regardless, the Juniper analysis found that fragmentation in battery charging networks is restricting further EV adoption in some

Human Resource Transformation Enabled by IT

Many senior executives are taking a proactive approach to digital business transformation in order to achieve their strategic goals. Delivering revenue growth and profitability is now imperative for every function, including Human Resources (HR). The top 3 priority HR technologies this year are skills management, learning experience platforms, and internal talent marketplaces, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "With a tumultuous global economy, HR technology leaders face a balancing act in 2023," said Sam Grinter, director at Gartner . "Leaders must anticipate greater levels of accountability and demand for measurable outcomes to justify new technology investments." HR Transformation Market Development Forty-four percent of HR leaders report driving better business outcomes is their number one strategic priority for HR technology transformation over the next three years. Growth in headcount and skills (26 percent) and cost optimization (17 p

How Savvy Pioneers Lead the Future of Work

Hybrid and fully remote work are inevitable in the Global Networked Economy where high-performance talent demands flexibility from employers. To enable these progressive work models, organizations are investing in a wide range of technologies to support more agile types of employment.  According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), leading organizations will spend nearly $1 billion on the Future of Work (FoW) in 2023 -- that's an increase of 18.8 percent over 2022. Future of Work Market Development "Work models continue to evolve, but 37 percent of decision-makers in a recent global survey note that Remote and Hybrid work models will be an embedded part of accepted work practices, supported by a continued shift to the cloud, increasingly instrumented and interconnected physical workplaces, and intelligent digital workspaces," said Holly Muscolino, group vice president at IDC . According to the IDC assessment, organizations must mak