Qualcomm and Teleepoch
Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October
6, 2007
MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband
Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6,
2007
Brazilian government to
publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007
KTF 3G service suffers
from technical problems, October 6, 2007
Argentina’s Personal
lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007
Russia has it's first 3G
network, October 6, 2007
AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent
as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007
Enea Extends License Agreement
with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007
LG to unveil premium handsets
in Brazil, October 2, 2007
KTF 3G subscribers doubled
in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007
3G policy in India will
be non-uniform, October 2, 2007
- previous news
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Worldwide shipments of high-end smartphones will reach 45m by 2007 - report
August 21, 2003
According to the latest report from ARC Group, high-end smartphones will
grow from less than 1% of total mobile handsets shipped in 2002 to 5%
in 2007. ARC Group expects annual shipments of these devices to grow from
around 3.5m units in 2002 to 45m units by 2007. Nevertheless, during the
next 5 years, the connected handheld market will remain a small segment
of the total handsets market.
Smartphones, which were initially designed primarily as mobile phones
with data- communications functionality along with advanced computing
capabilities, have the ability to handle and host a number of applications
letting them behave exactly like handheld computers. In 2002 high-end-smartphone
shipments accounted for 0.3% of the total handset market and by 2007 this
ratio is not expected to exceed 5%. But the value attributed to this market
segment could be as high as 20% of the total handset market because high-end
smartphones will offer extra features and functionality, and they will
therefore remain more expensive than traditional handsets.
Symbian is currently the most used OS for high-end smartphones, with
an overwhelming 60% share in 2002. However, Symbian's worldwide share
of this market is expected to decrease over the years, falling to around
39% by 2007. Palm OS currently holds the second position in the market
rankings with a share of 22%. However with the emergence of the Pocket
PC smartphone-edition in 2002, Microsoft OSs are likely to gain momentum
and mainly eat into Palm's share. The Palm OS market is expected to fall
drastically to just under 5.5% in 2007. Microsoft currently holds third
position in this market, with a modest share of 6.6% in 2002. MS OSs are
expected to rapidly catch up with Symbian by 2007 with a share of 40%.
Nevertheless, such high market share growth will very much depend on the
alliances that Microsoft is able to forge with operators and device manufacturers
around the world.
The author of ARC Group's Future Mobile Computing Report, Malik Saadi
says: "Sales of these connected handheld devices remain low to date for
many reasons, including their relatively high cost, which makes it difficult
for operators and service providers to balance device subsidies against
the potential for increased data revenue streams." Other factors include
their comparatively large size and heavy weight in comparison with traditional
handsets, and their very short battery life due to the substantial energy
consumption of the CPUs, communication modules and high-resolution wide
screens - all necessary features for dealing with bandwidth consuming
data applications and services.
In the short to medium term, connected handhelds and smartphone-handhelds
will attract professionals, early adopters and a considerable number of
technophiles who are ready to invest in the latest technology.
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3G Motorola A920
