Disqus
More than a dozen handset vendors will be shipping sub-$50 models till the end of the next year. Furthermore by 2011, almost 25% of all handsets shipped globally will be an ultra low cost handset. And we’re talking about smartphones… 
While the ultra low cost handset marketplace is currently dominated by Motorola and Nokia, other handset manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson are showing increasing interest as well. However, the problem is that the “big boys” have solid intellectual property portfolios — which they can additionally cross-license — hence they can jump into low-margin markets and still make a buck.
Naturally, the biggest growth for the low-end handsets is coming from China and India. ABI Research finds the latter market very interesting, even stating that in the next five years – India’s handset market will be growing from a little over 9 million handsets in 2006 to more than 116 million handsets in 2011.
[Via: slashphone]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
