The unstoppable spread of the future of computing...smartphones.
Chinese manufacturers are building low-cost (under $200 total) smartphones with 3 SIMS!
Support for two GSM SIM cards and one CDMA SIM card, and will target overseas emerging markets such as the Middle East, Africa and South America. First shipments will begin in the fourth quarter of 2010
Sony Ericsson CEO expects smartphones to reach 50% of the Chinese market by 2015:
Mr. Nordberg said that as the price gap between smartphones and phones with fewer capabilities narrows in China, purchasing a smartphone will "not be unthinkable" even for less-wealthy consumers. Smartphone penetration "will quickly grow to 50% of the market...by 2015" or earlier, he said.
To address that expected boom in demand, Sony Ericsson is deepening its relationship with China's largest mobile operator, China Mobile Ltd., by offering a new handset using network technology and software developed in China, a third-generation wireless standard called TD-SCDMA. The Sony Ericsson phone, called the A8i, runs an operating system developed by China Mobile based on Google Inc.'s Android.
Despite the Sony Ericsson plans, Motorola, third in smartphone sales in China behind Nokia and Samsung, continues to focus on this growing market:
The trio of phones [Moto is releasing now in China] will take the number of Motorola Android phones in China to 11, all of which came out in less than a year. Motorola currently holds 13.6 percent of the Chinese smartphone market according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. This puts the company right behind Nokia and Samsung which hold 26.7 percent and 17.9 percent of the market respectively.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, smartphone sales are soaring:
Sales of smartphones were up 128% in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, and up 17% versus the first half of 2008, the period prior to the global recession. The volume of handsets sold also jumped 31%. Overall, smartphones make up about 10% of mobile phones owned in Brazil.
The average price of smartphones dropped 2% in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2009 and by 5% versus 2008.
“The drop in the average price of smartphones has put them in the hands of more Brazilians, regardless of their income level. In the small but rapidly growing smartphone universe, 15% are owned by consumers in the two lower income levels,”
