New report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) suggests that more than 1.25 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide in 2014, a 23.8 percent increase from the 1.01 billion units shipped in 2013.
Total volumes are forecast to reach 1.8 billion units in 2018, a 12.7 percent CAGR for the 2013-2018 forecast period.
In 2014, IDC expects that mature markets will slow to just 4.9 percent growth while emerging markets will continue to soar at 32.4 percent, pushing the total market up 23.8 percent.
IDC's Mobile Phone team's research manager Ramon Llamas said that mature markets have slowed considerably but still deliver strong revenues with average selling prices (ASPs) over 400 dollars.
Llamas said the key for vendors now is to maintain a presence in the higher-margin mature markets while establishing a sustainable presence within the fast-growing emerging markets. To enable this strategy, operating system companies are partnering with OEMs to provide low-cost handsets.
