14 DAY TRIAL // I know 2011 is a long time from now and nobody really cares about what's going to happen then, but just know that at least from one point of view, it is going to be a very nice year.
According to a recently conducted study, the global market for sub-20$ mobile phones will be over 330 million units in 2011.
Over 50% of these budget handhelds will be shipping in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
So those of you who are just interested in an affordable handset and not in high-tech phones (that will probably still have very high prices) will be able to choose between a wide variety of such mobile phones.
According to research analyst Shailendra Pandey, "The growing demand for ultra low cost handsets has provided mobile operators and handset vendors with a quick route to a greater share of the emerging markets. The downside is that they are manufacturing and shipping a greater proportion of low-cost handsets, which can adversely affect their profits."
While mobile phone manufacturers' profits will go down due to the low-cost handsets, selling affordable mobile phones for low-income communities in the emerging markets will help mobile operators as well as manufacturers to establish their brand and gain long term growth and profitability on those markets.
Some manufacturers like LG, Samsung, Philips or Haier have barely started offering lower-end handsets, while Motorola and Nokia are the principal providers for ultra low cost mobile phones. Therefore - according to ABI Research - by 2011, almost one of every four handsets shipped globally will be highly affordable.