Cheap smartphones
global market grows
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20986550
By Zoe Kleinman Technology
reporter, BBC News
Cheap smartphones
global market grows
Asha,
the budget smartphone line from Nokia, is outselling its premium handset
offering, the Windows-run Lumia, by over two to one. The total number of both
Asha and Lumia devices sold in the last three months of 2012 was 14 million.
Only 4.4 million were Lumias.
Apple
may soon offer a lower-priced iPhone model. It is forecasted that by 2016, 31%
of the global overall handset market will be low-end smartphones. The
difference in cost to the consumer is significant: A basic smartphone in the UK
can cost about 30 UK Pounds (฿1500),
but the iPhone 5 currently costs over 500 UK Pounds (฿25000).
It is questionable if Apple can maintain their
market position, being in the small but premium end of the market. In the UK,
for example, only 28% of smartphone owners had iPhones. The problem is cheaper
phones have lower quality components and performance. Apple’s strategy has been
to update older models rather than develop a new design. Analysts believe Apple
should be more aggressive and develop a lower-price model
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