Digital Lifescapes

In the span of just two decades, mobile money offerings have transformed from a simple money transfer mechanism into a comprehensive financial ecosystem serving billions of under-served people worldwide. What began as an experiment in leveraging mobile phones for basic transactions has evolved into sophisticated financial super-apps that rival traditional banking infrastructure. This transformation represents a fintech innovation, and a fundamental re-imagining of how financial services can reach those left behind by conventional banking systems. Mobile Money Market Development According to the Juniper Research latest market study, more than 1.6 billion adults globally remained without access to a bank account in 2025. The distribution of this un-banked population reveals stark regional disparities: Africa and the Middle East account for 691 million un-banked adults, while the Indian Subcontinent contributes 497 million. In regions like Africa and the Middle East, over half of the adul...

The world of eCommerce payments has evolved. As we look toward the latter half of this decade, we're witnessing a transformation in how digital commerce operates, with a clear shift toward localized payment solutions within a global marketplace. The numbers tell a compelling story. According to Juniper Research's latest analysis, global eCommerce transactions are set to reach $11.4 trillion by 2029, marking a 63 percent increase from $7 trillion in 2024. This growth isn't just about volume – it's about fundamental changes in how people pay for goods and services online. Perhaps most striking is the projected dominance of Alternative Payment Methods (APMs), which are expected to account for 69 percent of global transactions by 2029, with 360 billion transactions processed through these channels. eCommerce Payments Market Development What makes this shift particularly interesting is how it reflects the democratization of digital commerce. Traditional card-based systems ar...

The eCommerce payments landscape is significantly transformed, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and evolving regulatory frameworks. As global commerce increasingly shifts online, the methods and tech underlying eCommerce payments are evolving to meet growing demands for convenience, security, and efficiency. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the global eCommerce transaction value is forecast to reach $11.4 trillion by 2029 -- that's up from $7 trillion in 2024.  This 63 percent increase over five years underscores eCommerce's rapid expansion and adoption in key markets across the globe. eCommerce Payments Market Development "Alternative payment options have grown substantially, with APM transaction volumes leapfrogging cards in emerging markets. As merchants look to attract new users and geographies, they must consider offering APMs a key strategy to accomplish this," said Lorien Carter, research an...

The mobile money sector in emerging markets has grown over the past two decades. What started as a simple solution to provide basic financial services to the unbanked has evolved into an ecosystem that reshaped economies and increased financial inclusion. Mobile money services have filled a crucial gap in areas where traditional banking infrastructure is sparse or non-existent. In rural and low-income regions, mobile money has emerged as a lifeline, offering various financial services. Mobile Money Service Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, mobile money spending in emerging markets is projected to reach $2.37 trillion by 2029 -- that's up from $1.58 trillion in 2024 with a growth of 51 percent in just five years. We're seeing a move beyond simple peer-to-peer transactions to services like merchant payments, both in-store and via eCommerce, as well as international remittances. This shift is allowing financial service providers...

Credit scoring is a method that lenders use to predict the probability a borrower or counter-party will default on loans, or incur additional charges for repayment -- also known as measuring credit worthiness. The method is a key tool in making credit affordable for individuals and businesses. It links credit products to risk potential, connecting borrowers to secondary capital markets and increasing the amount of funds available. This securing process establishes risk predictability dependent on a number of factors, determined by financial indicators and other publicly available information reported by the credit bureaus. Credit Score Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they now forecast credit scoring services will grow by 67 percent to $44 billion by 2028. Juniper anticipates that emerging markets will experience the greatest growth -- projecting the African & Middle Eastern region to grow by 117 percent over the forecast period...

Across the globe, millions of people don't have a bank account -- they're the 'unbanked' masses. Mobile Financial Services (MFS) are alternative financial instruments that allow individuals, without an account at a traditional banking institution, to engage in financial activity via their mobile device -- such as a low-cost smartphone or media tablet. Since the inception of 'mobile money' services from the telecom provider in Kenya over ten years ago, these solutions have been instrumental in enabling financial inclusion in emerging markets, where large segments of the population have been unserved, or underserved, by traditional banks. Mobile Financial Services Market Development With the ability to reach anyone who owns a mobile device and the benefit of rolling out cost-effective agent networks, MFS players have managed to fill a gap which has been a challenge for traditional financial institutions within emerging markets. According to the latest worl...

Through its ubiquity and reach, the mobile phone has become an enabler of financial inclusion for developing nations across the globe. Many countries in areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region have experienced the rapid adoption of 'mobile remittance' services. Numerous telecom service providers have expanded and tailored their services to offer the world’s poorest populations access to more sophisticated products  -- such as personal savings and loans. Worldwide a large number of people who remain 'unbanked' are without a bank account or credit history. Financial Services Market Development According to the latest global market study by Juniper Research, the use of mobile devices to make retail and store payments will act as a driver for financial services inclusion of the unbanked in emerging markets. The research forecasts that mobile merchant transactions by unbanked individuals will grow from 1.8 billion per annum in 2018 to 3.8 billion...

There are numerous factors driving the adoption of financial technology (fintech) market development. Particularly within emerging nations, technology vendors and service providers are looking at ways to provide services to individuals who previously have never used financial services -- they're often referred to as the un-banked population. Fintech platform revenues to support lending and financing are set to reach $10.5 billion globally by 2020, doubling the $5.2 billion expected this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. The analyst has predicted that growth would be driven by a combination of factors including an acceleration in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, crowdfunding becoming a viable alternative to traditional lending mechanisms, and the deployment of next generation analytics platforms. Fintech Market Development Opportunities The study findings uncovered that, in the absence of credit checking bureaus in emerging markets, a credi...

The mobile communication sector is still in transition. During the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016), the global macro-cell mobile infrastructure market totaled $10 billion. That's a decline of 18 percent sequentially, which effected all regions of the globe -- except Japan, North America and Mexico. The mobile infrastructure market is also down 8 percent on a year-over-year basis, signaling it has entered the post 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) peak era. As a result, LTE was down 23 percent quarter-over-quarter and down 6 percent year-over-year, according to the latest worldwide market study by IHS . For the first time since the beginning of 4G LTE rollouts in 2012, all generations of mobile communication technologies experienced a sharp decline. Market Development Challenges Remain Even India, the only BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nation bright spot last year, slowed down dramatically in Q1 2016 due to spectrum issues and various deals between local m...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), 3.2 billion people, or 44 percent of the world's population, will have access to the Internet in 2016. More than 2 billion will be using mobile devices to do so. Growth in Internet access is taking place around the world, but some countries are seeing particularly rapid growth. Furthermore, the world's Internet users are performing a variety of activities online. China, India and Indonesia lead the way -- they will account for almost half of the new user gains in Internet access globally over the course of the next five years. The combination of lower-cost mobile devices and inexpensive wireless networks are making accessibility easier in countries with large low-income populations that could not previously afford to use the Internet. The total number of mobile Internet users is forecast to rise by approximately 2 percent annually through 2020, unless significant new methods of acces...

Technology industry analysts are reporting that the current trends within the smartphone marketplace are being led by two key phenomena -- more low-cost, high-value product introductions and dominant mobile service providers being forced to react to the disruptive actions of savvy competitors. Vendors shipped a total of 355.2 million smartphones worldwide in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), that's up 6.8 percent from the 332.6 million units in 3Q14, marking the second highest quarter of shipments on record, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The 3Q15 shipments were slightly below the previous forecast of 363.8 million units, largely due to lower than expected Apple iPhone shipments, as well as Google Android flagship introductions from several top-tier OEMs. "The vendor landscape and product offerings are really unique at the moment as many markets are seeing consumers become more aware of alternative buying options when it com...

The evolution of the mobile communication ecosystem continues to advance in 2015, as the enabling smartphone vendor focus moves beyond what they make (products) towards "what they make possible" (socioeconomic freedom) within the emerging markets. Affordable smartphones are a key component of the Mobile Internet success story. The leading manufacturers in China are now producing a variety of low-cost, high-value devices that are empowering people around the globe to access the Web for the very first time. Juniper Research estimates that the number of smartphone shipments reached 338 million in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 -- representing a year-over-year growth of 16 percent. The global smartphone market continued to mature this quarter, and the gap between vendor winners and losers grew larger. That being said, the ongoing competition is good news for all consumers. While the launch of the P8 helped Huawei to nearly 50 percent year-over-year growth, Xiaomi shippe...

The mobile communication subscriber landscape continues to shift and evolve as more markets reach saturation point across the globe. Most vendors have adjusted their product lines to incorporate low-cost mobile phone models that appeal to consumers in emerging nations, but a few still prefer to rely on the perception that their devices are worth a premium price. However, over time, these vendors must innovate to deliver greater value, and thereby maintain their profit margins. Brand cachet is very subjective -- even the most committed fans have their limits. Ultimately, everything is subject to change, including gadget fandom. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), vendors shipped a total of 337.2 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15) -- that's up 11.6 percent from the 302.1 million units in 2Q14. Following an above average first quarter (1Q15), smartphone shipments were still able to remain slightly above th...

According to the latest global study by International Data Corporation (IDC), the combined total market of smartphones, media tablets and PCs is now forecast to grow from 1.8 billion units in 2014 to 2.5 billion units in 2019. During the forecast period, smartphones will grow to represent the majority of total Smart Connected Device (IDC's term for the combined market) shipments -- dwarfing both tablets and PCs in terms of shipment volumes. As recently as 2010, PCs still made up the lion's share of the total device market, with the combined desktop and notebook categories accounting for about 52.5 percent of shipments, versus 44.7 percent for smartphones and 2.8 percent for tablets. However, by 2014, smartphones had grown to represent 73.4 percent of total shipment, while PCs had slipped to 16.8 percent and tablets had increased to 12.5 percent. By 2019, IDC expects the distribution to be 77.8 percent smartphones, 11.6 percent PCs, and 10.7 percent tablets. "Smartp...

Over the past 5 years, the scale of mobile commerce in its various forms has grown at a remarkable rate. As more mobile computing devices -- such as smartphones and media tablets -- became available for browsing online content, the mobile commerce marketplace thrived. In 2001, global business-to-consumer eCommerce sales were around $63 billion anually. By 2011, sales had increased nearly 12 times to $745 billion. In 2012, these sales increased by a further 28 percent to reach $952 billion, before increasing by a further 23 percent in 2013 to approach $1.2 trillion. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, just over 2 billion mobile phone or tablet users will make some form of mobile commerce transaction by the end of 2017 -- that's up from 1.6 billion in 2014. Juniper believes that mobile consumption of services such as banking, money transfer and purchases of goods and services was surging as consumers were either migrating from desktop usage or be...

The global outlook for media tablet shipments will further evolve as vendor diversification occurs and emerging markets drive more growth. The worldwide tablet market grew 11.5 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14) with shipments reaching 53.8 million units, according to the the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Partly driven by back-to-school promotions and U.S. appetite for connected tablets, the third quarter also saw shipments grow sequentially by 11.2 percent compared to 2Q14. "Not only is the U.S. market one of the largest for tablets, but third quarter results also indicate that this is where the growth is," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research director at IDC . As an example of evolving market developments, IDC says that Verizon is continuing to sell connected tablets at a fast pace, a strategy that they believe other carriers will replicate in following quarters. Also, RCA entered the top 5 vendor list, impacti...

Demand for affordable devices used to connect to the mobile internet, mostly from emerging markets, is continuing to drive strong sales of what Gartner calls "white-box" smartphones and media tablets in 2014. Gartner expects the white-box smartphone market to grow 50 percent, while the white-box tablet market will experience growth of 15.6 percent. A typical low-cost white-box device is created by a device manufacturer using a turnkey solution based on application processors and reference designs. The device is targeted at affordable price points in segments across the globe, within the evolving mobile phone and media tablet markets. According to the latest market study by Gartner, established and emerging Chinese vendors will lead the growth of white-box devices as they refocus to meet the demand for low-priced devices. In addition, the move to 4G in China and beyond will create new opportunities for Chinese smartphone vendors, starting in late 2014. "Selling sm...

Phablets are smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches in diameter. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), phablet shipments will reach 175 million units worldwide in 2014, passing the 170 million portable PCs expected to ship during the same period. Next year, total phablet shipment volumes will top 318 million units -- surpassing the 233 million tablets forecast to ship in 2015. While phablets are a relatively new category of device, first picking up volume in 2012, the pressure that the category has placed on the media tablet market has already been clearly observed as the growth of smaller, 7 inch tablets has begun to slow. IDC expects more consumers to shift back toward larger-sized tablets with their next purchase. However, that trend hasn't made up for the decreased shipments of smaller sizes, which has resulted in lower overall expectations for the tablet market in 2014 and beyond. IDC predicts that phablet...

The world markets have embraced the notion that open-source enables products that cost less than the proprietary vendor equivalent. Granted, some markets are more price sensitive than others. The smartphone market is a case in point. The perception that an Apple iPhone design is worth the premium price simply doesn't translate to the majority of emerging markets, where "value" is more likely to drive market share growth for the leading vendors. According to the latest mobile phone forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC), more than 1.25 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide in 2014, representing a 23.8 percent increase from the 1.01 billion units shipped in 2013. Looking ahead, total volumes are forecast to reach 1.8 billion units in 2018, resulting in a 12.7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2013 – 2018 forecast period. Emerging markets have accounted for more than 50 percent annual smartphone shipments dating back to 2011,...

Overall worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by -3.7 percent in 2014, that's a slight improvement from the previous forecast of -6 percent, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). PC shipments in emerging regions remain constrained by ongoing competition from alternative devices such as media tablets, and a number of economic challenges. However, commercial demand and even a rekindling of consumer interest in mature markets helped to boost results for the first half of 2014 as well as the outlook for the rest of the year. PC shipments in mature regions are now projected to grow by 5.6 percent in 2014 – the highest since 2010 -- with both consumer and commercial segments showing positive growth. On the other hand, the outlook for emerging market has been lowered slightly to reflect reduced stability and economic conditions in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMA). PC market drivers fo...