Mid-level mobile phones face popularity ’squeeze’
Thursday, August 14th, 2008Consumers are set to turn away from ‘mid-level’ mobile phones as more advanced devices become more popular, according to experts.
According to ABI research, 441 million mid-market devices will be sold in 2013, compared to 854 million last year.
The firm says such phones are classed as ‘enhanced’ because they offer more than just voice phone calls but not the technology of smartphones.
ABI director of mobile devices Kevin Burden said: "The mid-tier phones, which are the largest [segment] now, will be squeezed over next five to six years."
Mid-level phones made up 74 per cent of the market last year, while low-end phones represented 16 per cent and smartphones took 10 per cent.
By 2013, ABI says mid-tier phones will have crashed to 23 per cent, with low-end phones reaching 46 per cent and smartphones climbing to 31 per cent.
The appeal of mid-level devices is expected to drop because most of them run ‘closed’ software, which does not allow for application add-ons.
More advanced gadgets such as smartphones use ‘open’ technology, allowing users to download and use independently-developed applications such as email software and RSS readers.
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