|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Smartphones in Latin America: Big Opportunities for Operators and Suppliers - Latin America Telecom Insider / Vol. 1, No 5, Edition 6
Pyramid Research, Inc., July 2009, Pages: 14
Given the growing interest by operators in smartphones, intensified competition among vendors, and the greater potential for growth in Latin America compared with other regions, the region's smartphone segment will represent an opportunity of 150 million handset units over the next five years – 48 million handsets units in 2014 alone, according to this latest report.
Smartphones in Latin America: Big Opportunities for Operators and Suppliers examines the potential for growth in Latin America's smartphone market, as well as the factors driving this trend, by analyzing operators' and vendors' strategies. The 14-page report provides our five-year forecast on smartphone adoption in Latin America and looks at vendor positioning, focusing on three cases, Nokia, Research in Motion, and Apple, while also examining relevant moves by operators and the strategies of the major handset vendors in the market, including marketing campaigns and bundles.
Handset Forecasts are also available for 18 markets in Latin America, tracking handset sell-through by technology, feature set, price tier, and vendor, providing market share for 5 to 6 vendors per country.
The smartphone segment will become one of the most important sources of data revenue growth over the next five years in Latin America, notes Omar Salvador, Senior Analyst at Pyramid and author of the report. 'The market is still in its infancy, representing only 3 percent of total handset unit sales in 2008; globally the figure was 12 percent,' he says. 'However, the author predicts the segment will grow from 7 million smartphones sold in 2009, representing 5.4 percent of total handsets sales, to 48 million in 2014, or 30 percent of the total,' he adds.
'Given that Latin America's mobile subscriber growth rate declined from 24 percent in 2007 to 19 percent in 2008, operators are more interested than ever in increasing their ARPS and encouraging smartphone uptake is an excellent approach to reaching that goal,' Salvador says. 'Vivo, the leading player in Brazil, recently highlighted how crucial the smartphone base is to its data revenue growth, while smartphone vendors are stepping up competition in the region with aggressive tactics, including handset bundles, new models, expanded entry-level portfolios, and close cooperation with operators ,' he adds.
If competition intensifies among vendors and operators, service bundling becomes more aggressive, the prices of entry-level smartphones fall below $100, and touchscreen phones become available in the midlevel price category, the author believes smartphones can capture up to 39 percent of total handsets sales in 2014. 'These growth drivers, supported by the growing 3G availability in Latin America, will push the Latin American smartphone market up toward the global average of smartphone handsets as a percentage of total handset sales,' concludes Salvador.
Smartphones in Latin America: Big Opportunities for Operators and Suppliers is part of our Latin America Telecom Insider report series. Telecom Insiders are packed with trend analysis, industry best practices, market sizing and forecasting, competitor analysis, and case studies, providing you information you can leverage to make better business decisions.
Key findings
- The author expects the smartphone market in Latin America to represent an opportunity of 150m handsets units in the next five years — 48m handsets units in 2014 alone. The category will grow from 3% of total handset unit sales in 2008 to 30% in 2014.
- The main factors contributing to the expansion in the smartphone market are the growing interest of mobile operators in boosting data revenue via smartphone usage, the intensifying competition in this segment among vendors and the currently low adoption of smartphones, which shows great potential, particularly when compared with the global average.
- Considering Latin America’s declining subscriber growth, from 24% in 2007 to 12% in 2009, mobile operators are focusing resources such as subsidies and marketing efforts on promoting smartphones in order to increase data ARPS and revenue (see Exhibit 2). Data services such as email and Web browsing are frequently adopted by smartphone users, while other opportunities such as games and music remain largely untapped.
- The considerable potential in the smartphone market is also correlated to key drivers such as smartphone prices, bundles and touchscreens, which all could stimulate higher growth than we have projected. An optimistic scenario based on these factors moving aggressively would see smartphone adoption as high as 39% of total handsets sales in 2014.
Product samples
A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Global Mobile Phone & Smartphone Market (2010 - 2015)
Location-Based Services - Market Forecast, 2011-2015
Smartphone Futures 2011-2015
World Smart Phones Market - Advanced technologies,Global Forecast, Winning Imperatives (2010-2015)
Latin America Telecom Insider / Vol. 3, No 6, Edition 11 - Operators and Vendors Aim Smartphones at the Mass Market
Mobile Phone Touchscreens: Market Analysis and Forecasts
Smartphone Forecast - Operator Strategies Will Fuel Growth in Emerging Markets
Handsets Get a Latin Beat - Mobile Users in Latin America Turn to Music, Cameras and 3G
Smartphone Futures 2009-2014
Smartphone Operating Systems - Ecosystem Analysis and Trends Shaping the Future of the Global Smartphone Market
|
|
|
|
