Date: 20/09/2011

Forecast: Global smartphone revenue to grow 31% in 2011 over 2010, to $117 billion

Infonetics Research has released excerpts from its second quarter (2Q11) 2G/3G/4G (LTE and WiMAX) Broadband Devices and Subscribers report, which tracks smartphones, mobile broadband PC cards, embedded mobile broadband cards and devices, mobile broadband routers, and mobile broadband subscribers.

"The clear synergy between smartphones and tablets, with their shared touchscreen features and common application environments, make them by far the hottest segments of the mobile broadband device market. Just as iPhone users are more likely to buy an iPad as their tablet, so too are Android users more likely to buy Android-based tablets. It is increasingly important for vendors to have a strong portfolio in both market segments to leverage this synergy," notes Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and small cells at Infonetics Research.

MOBILE BROADBAND MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
A total of $31.4 billion was spent on smartphones in 2Q11, down 1.4% from the previous quarter despite unit shipments being up about 2%, indicating unit-price erosion impeded revenue growth
Infonetics expects global smartphone revenue to grow 31% in 2011 over 2010, to $117 billion
Apple's stronger volumes and higher ARPU helped increase its global smartphone revenue share every quarter thus far in 2011, now at 36% of the smartphone market in 2Q11
HTC and Samsung leapfrogged into 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, in the global smartphone market in 2Q11, ahead of RIM and Nokia
Combined across all vendors, Android continues to be the #1 smartphone operating system (OS) in the world, used in nearly half of all smartphones shipped worldwide