Studies: Smartphones to Outsell Feature Phones & 1 Billion Android Devices in 2013

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We have a marketing study bonanza for you guys this morning. One analysis, from IDC, predicts that smartphones will finally outsell feature phones this year. Also, some earlier studies from a couple of sources suggest that Android devices (including tablets) are on pace to hit the 1 Billion mark by autumn of this year. Here are a couple of quotes with the details,

For years, analysts have been predicting that smartphones would one day supplant basic feature phones in terms of worldwide sales, and that day is expected to finally come in 2013. According to the report, IDC estimates that manufacturers will ship 918.6 million smartphones in 2013, which is about 50.1 percent of the industry's total shipments. This number is expected to grow to 1.5 billion in smartphone shipments by the end of 2017, which will be represent about two-thirds of the total cell phone shipments, according to IDC.

IDC says there are two main reasons why smartphones -- which can surf the Web, access e-mail, act as GPS navigation devices, and check you into your favorite coffee shop via dozens of social media apps -- are so popular right now. The most important is the fact that prices have fallen dramatically across the globe on smartphones. But also important is the fact that carriers around the globe are starting to deploy faster 4G, or fourth generation, cellular networks.

Strong demand in developing countries with large populations such as China, Brazil, and India is driving much of the demand. This is a big shift from the past, according to IDC. To date, much of the world's smartphone shipments were to customers in mature markets, such as the U.S. But now it looks like consumers in these other less-developed markets are now jumping on board the smartphone train. And sales to these countries are expected to outpace sales in markets like the U.S. in the not-so-distant future. In fact, last year more smartphones were sold in China than in the U.S., according to IDC. ~ CNET

It was only last year that the total number of smartphones hit 1 billion. Now analysts are predicting that more than 1 billion smartphones will be sold in 2013 alone. The overall size of the market is still growing and Android has the lion’s share of the sales. If we go back to September 2012 when the 1.3 million a day statement was made Android’s smartphone market share was below 70 percent for Q2 and sales of Android smartphones hit 104.8 million. According to Gartner, in Q3 of 2012 Android market share hit 72.4 percent and in Q4 it was 69.7 percent. Despite that dip there were 122.5 million Android smartphones sold in Q3 and 144.7 million Android smartphones sold in Q4 because the overall size of the market went up.

On top of the smartphone situation we have to consider the rapid growth of the Android tablet market. IDC reported strong growth in Q4 with Android tablets grabbing a larger share than ever before. We’re also starting to see Android in netbooks, smart watches, cars, games consoles, TVs, cameras, and even ovens. If we put all of this together then it’s pretty clear that Android should hit 1 billion devices long before October. ~ AndroidAuthority

In October of last year, Google Chairman, Eric Schmidt predicted that “We’ll be at 1 billion mobile devices in a year.” Apparently, Mr. Schmidt's predictions were spot on, and Android's Kung Fu is strong!