14 DAY TRIAL // Although there had already been smartphones around for a while, it wasn’t until 2007 that these devices could actually be deemed as smart, and it all started with the launch of the first iPhone. Steve Jobs said it on stage when he unveiled the thing, and now Research and Markets analysts tend to agree.
Research and Markets (a market intelligence firm, as its name implies), today announced the "Current Competition and Future Development of the Worldwide Smartphone Industry" report.
It adds to the hundreds of other comprehensive research works by the company, and it covers key topics such as Worldwide Smartphone Shipment Forecasts; Competition among Smartphone OS Integrators; Competition among Major Smartphone Branded Vendors; and Future Development of the Smartphone Industry.
Pretty much every hot shot in the mobile industry is mentioned in the piece, including Nokia, Samsung, RIM, LG, HTC and, of course the Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc.
The research company forecasts that worldwide smartphone shipment volume will reach 460 million units in 2011, accounting for approximately 29% of the market.
“The 2011 figure is projected to exceed 1.2 billion in 2015, accounting for over 60% in overall shipment,” according to the summary of their report.
Of Apple, they have something very interesting to say. According to their research, “Since the release of Apple's iPhone in 2007, Smartphones gradually become a multimedia application product for general consumer use.”
“With Smartphone becoming the major mobile phone product, the industry as a whole is undergoing a paradigm shift.”
Based on this phenomenon, and its many ripples, the Research and Markets report “offers insight into competition and cooperation between major vendors and system integrators, as well as the future trend of the Smartphone industry.”
In the meanwhile, Strategy Analytics (another research company) has issued the App Store Competitive Index (ASCI) from its App Ecosystem Opportunities (AEO) service. The tracker gauges how truly competitive app storefronts are for new apps and developers.
It found that although Apple’s iPad scored the highest, it beat the least competitive store by a meagre 10 percent. Intriguing? Check it out here.