Emerging markets like India, Brazil are new arenas for smartphone battle
Emerging nations are the new battleground for smartphone makers. But brands such as Apple and Samsung may have priced themselves out of markets that want cheaper and simpler gadgets, writes Jamie Carter
Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S4 might be the smartphones of choice in rich countries, but high-priced handsets are rapidly becoming a niche market as manufacturers and operators look for their next one billion users.
The likes of the Nokia, ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei are producing a swathe of low-cost, low-power devices that offer what people in developing countries want, while app developers are beginning to concentrate on designing apps primarily for emerging markets.
With changing demographics and the emergence of a middle class in places such as India, China, Nigeria and Latin America, are we about to see a global shift in the smartphone market?
It's a question of saturation. For example, in Hong Kong, the battle for the smartphone market was played out long ago. It has a remarkable penetration rate of 87 per cent, according to a study late last year by Flurry Analytics, which found only one other market - Singapore, at 92 per cent - where smartphones were more prevalent. Sweden, the United States, Britain, Australia and South Korea all hover around the 75 per cent mark, which makes them equally unappealing places to do business for mobile operators looking for big profits.
Apple and Google devices are too pricey for those in developing countries, so we are starting to see more basic smartphones dominate there. Take phones such as Nokia's 105, which has a colour screen, FM radio and a flashlight for a mere HK$150, or the Finnish firm's new 301, a bare-bones internet/e-mail smartphone costing just HK$650.
Lenovo's LePhone A586 - an Android gadget enabled with data storage system Baidu Cloud and voice unlock - sells for HK$1,264 on the mainland, compared to HK$5,588 for an iPhone 5.