SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ – Cheap Android-based smartphones (under $150) are poised to take the “ world by storm” and take 80% of the market in Africa, India, and China by 2015 says research from NPD In-Stat . In India for example, the leading telco Idea Cellular is already offering two lost-cost Android smartphones bundled with 3G data packs, in the under $150 price range.
(RIM, with a leadership position still in India and some places in Asia with BlackBerry, may not enjoy reading this report. The sheer cost of an iPhone limits its penetration in these regions.)
In-start reports that in just two years, Android has become the top smartphone OS worldwide. It says that in the U.S. Android took the number one ranking in OS sales because wireless operators that did not carry the iPhone chose Android as their smartphone solution. However the Android handsets that are selling well in the U.S. and Europe are not the same cheap Android handsets selling elsewhere in the world.
According to the report, most of the low-cost Android phones in these regions will be based on Android version Froyo (2.2) and Gingerbread (2.3), since these versions offer an affordable blend of modest memory and processor power. Low-end smartphones utilize EDGE and processors running at 600MHz or lower, since a single-core EDGE chip sells for well under $10.
In-Stat reports that smaller phone manufacturers will sometimes purchase from the “grey market” where component manufacturers typically don’t pay licensing fees, royalties, or taxes for the products they produce. The report identifies early competitors in the market including Huawei, MicroMax, Motorola, Samsung, Spice, and ZTE.
"All-in-all, the way that Android has spread worldwide, low-cost Android will also spread worldwide. But, where most Android phones are being sold in developed regions of the world, low-cost Android will flourish in emerging areas; however, it will face heavy competition in some regions,” says Allen Nogee, Research Director.
“Samsung has bada, and Nokia is developing Meltemi. In addition, Microsoft has stated that it wants to sell Windows Phone in these developing regions as well and could aggressively lower prices to gain market share. While Google profits in these regions from advertising revenue, Nokia and Samsung benefit the old-fashioned way, by selling hardware.”
Recent NPD In-Stat research found:
• Unit shipments for low-cost Android smartphones will approach 340 million worldwide in 2015.
• The low-cost Android handset segment will cause some fragmentation in the Android platform.
• The Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) step-up in memory and processor demands makes this release less attractive for low-cost Android devices.
