Tick tech

28 January 2013 By Robert Cyran Follow @rob_cyran

Sales of advanced handsets grew 43 pct last year and now account for more than two-fifths of the otherwise stagnant cell phone market. But simple math dictates growth should slow. And history suggests prices will continue to fall. That’s a toxic combination for margins.

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The number of smartphones sold worldwide in 2012 grew 43 percent to 700 million, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm estimates the cellphone market as a whole grew 2 percent to 1.6 billion.
In 2012, 479 million Android smartphones were shipped, more than doubling the 239 million shipped in 2011. The number of iPhones grew 46 percent to 136 million.
On Jan. 25, Samsung said it expected intensified competition for handsets in 2013 as growth for smartphones slowed to “the mid single digits”.
On Jan. 23, Apple reported net income of $13.1 billion for the quarter ending Dec. 29. That was flat compared to the same period in the previous year.

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