Microsoft-Nokia & iPhone 5c: What Do They Mean for Smartphone Trends in Emerging Markets?

BOSTON, Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The launch of iPhone 5c is not expected to have an effect on overall smartphone adoption rate in emerging markets, while Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia provides a reason for cautious optimism, according to a new research note by Pyramid Research.

Senior Analyst Stela Bokun, author of the Pyramid Point and the upcoming report Smartphone Strategies: How Devices Can Revitalize the Role of Operators in the Mobile Ecosystem, examines the effect that the two events – Apple's long awaited launch of a cheaper iPhone model, the iPhone 5c, as well as Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division – will have on the smartphone adoption in emerging markets.

Read the full Pyramid Point here.

Emerging markets will be the driving force behind the global smartphone sales growth, with 70 percent of total smartphone sales originating in this part of the world in 2018. Projections provided in the Pyramid Point assume that the global smartphone average selling price will gradually decline and that this number will be below $100 across the poorest countries in the emerging world. However, in order for the next 2 billion people to be connected to the Internet via smartphones in the next five years, the price of these devices should fall to around $50. This relatively hard to reach target is attainable if more competition is injected into the emerging market smartphone space and the current dominance of Android based phones is disrupted.

While the launch of iPhone 5c will be inconsequential for expanding smartphone penetration in emerging markets, the recently announced buy-back and trade-in deal between Apple and Brightstar may have a pronounced role. Also, with MSFT's support, Nokia's low-end smartphone portfolio is likely to grow faster and become more affordable. More variety in the low-end smartphone offering in emerging markets, and increased competition in this space can result in faster decline in smartphone ASP and thus faster smartphone adoption rates; however, MSFT's success in the mobile space of emerging markets won't come without many a problem waiting to be resolved, despite the recent acquisition of Nokia.

Read the full Pyramid Point: Microsoft -Nokia & iPhone 5c: What Do They Mean for Smartphone Trends in Emerging Markets?

Related Content:

Upcoming report:
Smartphone Strategies: How Devices Can Revitalize the Role of Operators in the Mobile Ecosystem Pyramid discusses buy-back and trade-in business strategy and its implications on mobile operators' business in more detail. Watch for the report announcement soon.

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Pyramid Research (pyramidresearch.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the global communications industry. Its analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for more than 100 countries – a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As a division of UBM Tech (tech.ubm.com), Pyramid Research contributes to the only integrated business information platform serving the global communications industry.

SOURCE Pyramid Research