Smartphones: Around the world in 365 days
Smartphones have many takers including the aristocratically rich guys, hardcore tech geeks, busy business executives and professionals among others. The craziness for smartphones is attributed to factors such as cheaper price tags, ever expanding social networking universe, peer pressures and viral marketing strategies by their manufacturers. Invariably, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones are the ones that have ruled the roost.
Popular gadgets like MP3 players, digicams, gaming consoles and navigation devices could not compete with smartphones as the entire functionalities have been embedded in them thereby capturing the market by leaps and bounds. Gone are the days when mobile phones were just meant for making calls and texting. Youngsters today are not wary of shelling out extra bucks to own smartphones which, apart from the normal calls and SMS, allow them to check emails, browse internet, edit documents, do social networking, record better videos, click clearer pictures and provide navigation while in an unknown place.
Perhaps, manufacturers have left no stones unturned to attract every category of people. For those who cannot afford the global brands, especially those in countries like India, there are local and Chinese smartphones, which provide more or less the same features at an economical price.
There are about 500 million smartphones users around the world and this figure is expected to reach 1 billion in the next three years. Apple and RIM continued to lead the market followed by other players like Samsung, HTC and Motorola.
The Indian Scene
Micromax is one such Indian company which has revolutionized the smartphones market. Two days back, another company Intex also announced an Android based smartphone for Indian market. The market for smartphones in India looks promising with more than 7 million handsets, which is a 30% growth from the previous year. And by the year 2015, smartphones are touted to garner about 25% of the total mobile phone market in the country, which has now more than 600 million subscribers. Almost all the major players have made their grip of the market stronger in India, except Nokia, which seems to be losing out in the competition mainly to Android phones.
Apart from these, there are also bigger versions of them, incidentally called tablets that have begun to capitalize the market. With Apple’s iPad, Dell’s Streak and Samsung’s Galaxy, Indians now have plethora of choices. PCs and Laptops would be a passe very soon in the face of smartphones. And with 3G pictures becoming clearer, there will be a huge surge of smartphones in a year or two.
On A Lighter Note
Smartphones make life simpler and make life filled with fun and joy. Apart from the aforesaid functions, there are exciting games and applications that make users happier. For instance, Angry Birds and iPhone’s Lets Golf are the most sought after games. Also, apps such as those inhealthcare segment can certainly help it become better and easier.
Smartphones are much better than mobile phones that existed some five years ago in terms of wider screens, intuitive UI and lots of applications. And more than anyone can imagine, they surely are changing the way we live. In USA, the Army has announced that it would be issuing Smartphones, either iPhone or Android phone, to its soldiers. That indicates its rising popularity.
The Road Ahead
Experts have predicted that as many as 500 million smartphones would be sold in 2011 as against 179 million and 270 million in 2009 and 2010 respectively. While the figure may rise or fall, it is quite certain that smartphones are here to stay. However, at this point it is difficult to announce the verdict as to who will be the market leader in the arena.
All said and done, the year 2010 fits the bill to be called the year of smartphones considering the pace it has picked up and the revolution it has experienced. What do you think?
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