Telecom Lead Asia: Google Android is expected to dominate the
smartphone market over the next five years.
Smartphones based on Android accounted for 44 percent of
the smartphone market in 2011, up from 17 percent in 2010.
Android-based smartphone share will reach 48 percent in
2017 as they are expected to grow at a CAGR of 26.8 percent over the forecast
period.
Apple’s iOS will have 27 percent market share in 2017
from 23 percent in 2011.
Apple will continue to be a key player and innovator in
the smartphone market over the forecast period.
While Apple has defined the smartphone market since it
introduced the iPhone in 2007, we’re now seeing a sharp rise in the shipment
volumes of Android, signaling its appeal to leading handset manufacturers,”
said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum.
Ovum expects Microsoft, despite its slow start, to have
established Windows Phone as a relevant smartphone platform by 2017.
The Windows Phone platform, with the assistance of Nokia,
will account for 13 percent of the smartphone market in 2017. Despite losing
significant market share since its high point in 2009, RIM’s BlackBerry
platform will still represent 10 percent of the market in 2017.
Ovum said smartphones will outperform the overall market
for mobile phones, growing at a CAGR of 24.9 percent for the period 2011-17 to
reach 1.7 billion units.
Annual mobile phone shipments will grow at a CAGR of 6.3
percent between 2011 and 2017, driven primarily by demand from emerging markets
where connection growth will continue to fuel handset shipments.
Asia-Pacific will be the largest region in volume terms,
shipping just over 200 million units by 2016. New shipments in developed
markets, such as North America and Western Europe, will be almost entirely made
up of smartphones, while feature phones will continue to play a small role in
emerging markets in 2017.