Touchscreen Smartphone Shipments Double

Smartphone Market Driven by Operating System Wars and Feature Migration, Says In-Stat

While iPhone shipments are growing quickly, smartphones based on the Symbian operating system remain dominant and will continue to grow over the next several years, reports In-Stat. However, Symbian will wane, resulting in a drop in net Symbian-based smartphone shipments in 2014.

The worldwide smartphone industry is one of the few that has successfully weathered the current recession; in fact, smartphones actually seem to be recession-proof. But while the number of smartphones continues to grow, so does the number of smartphone OSs, so much so, that 2010 looks like it will be a pivotal year for the survival of smartphone OSs.

Meanwhile, the basis of competition will change from the OS to the functionality and “user experiences” that the phone can provide. The advanced feature sets of smartphones continue to evolve as users demand capabilities such as touch screens, increased camera resolution and Wi-Fi connectivity options.

“In-Stat believes new OSs such as Android and Maemo will cut away at Symbian market share,” says Allen Nogee, In-Stat analyst. “Although there are relatively few open source OS-based smartphones in the market today, the open source OS momentum is difficult to ignore. After years of hype, it is easy to see that 2010 will be the year of Android.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Shipments of smartphones with touch screens will more than double from 2008 to 2009.
• RIM OS has been gaining market share in the non-enterprise segment, speaking to the importance of clever hardware design in the segment.
• The total smartphone market in 2014 will be 412 million units.
• Shipments of smartphone with accelerometers will grow to over 350 million units by 2014.
• Over 52% of a smartphone’s cost is made-up by displays (touch screens), baseband and apps processors, and software and licensing make-up. Clearly, making a phone “smart” has significant cost impacts.

About In-Stat
In-Stat’s market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions.