The results of new Informa’s survey indicate online mobile phone sales will surge to 21% of total devices sales by 2012. According to Angela Stainthorpe, Research Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, online retail for wireless is certainly only a nascent market but the tentative steps taken in 2007 will quickly become more confident. “As broadband penetration increases and online shopping entrenches its place in the retail landscape, customer expectation and the cost benefits of online distribution will be difficult for the mobile industry to ignore,” she added.
Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts the online handset retail market in 2012 to be worth over double its 2007 level. Europe will lead the online market, accounting for 47% of global online handset sales revenues in 2012. North America will hold onto its second place, while Asia Pacific will see a four-fold increase.
The report concludes that total handset retail revenues through all channels will reach US$180.9 billion by 2012, up 23% on 2007.
Interesting thing to note is that in the coming years vendors will take a more active role in the marketing and sales of their products, causing a loss of market share for the operators, which as a result, will end 2012 with 25% of total handset retail revenues…
As always, more information is available on Informa’s website.