Boston, MA 08/29/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Technology bellwether and smart device maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has the capability to fuel replacement cycles in smartphone in mature markets as the large screen smartphones are expected to double its share by the year 2018.
Big Screen Smartphone
There has been a shift in consumers’ preference to big screen smartphones and ‘phablets’, i.e. smartphones with 5.5” – 7” screens, and that it would grow to 32.2% in the year 2018 from an estimated 14.0% of the market in the current year, research organization International Data Corporation said. IDC also believes that with the unexpressed demand for a bigger iPhone screen, Apple has the advantage and the capability to fuel replacement cycles in the matured markets though slower growth were witnessed in the recent quarters.
Emerging Markets
The research organization expects the emerging markets to continue its uptick in the smartphone segment with 32.4% growth expected in the current year while the mature markets are predicted to witness a slow down in growth pace to just 4.9%. The significant growth in emerging markets would push the total smartphone market by 23.8% in the current calendar year.
Specifically, IDC predicts that emerging markets smartphone volume would grow to 920.8 million units of the 1.25 billion smartphone units shipments expected in the current year. This meant that emerging nations would account for a whopping 73.5% of the whole volume shipped.
The IDC also expects volume to increase steadily in the emerging markets in the next few years. The volume would touch 1.8 billion units by the end of 2018, which suggests compound annual growth rate or CAGR of 12.7% for the periods between 2013 and 2018.
Mature Markets
The research organization expects 4.9% uptick in volume in mature markets in the current calendar year. The growth pace will gradually come down to a rate of 2.7% growth in the year 2018. It meant that the five-year CAGR would be 3.6% in the mature markets for the period between 2014 and 2018.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which enjoys a sizeable backing among the mature markets, would be hoping that big screen smartphones would fuel replacement recycles in the mature markets. Additionally, it would heavily depend on China, where it benefited in the recent quarter, to fuel demand from the emerging markets.
