Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Replacement demand for smartphones to continue for 1-2 years, say sources


Erica Yen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 26 December 2012]

Although the pace of replacement of feature phones with smartphones has been slower than expected in the second half of 2012, replacement demand is expected to continue for at least 1-2 years, since more mobile telecom carriers have been accelerating the establishment of their LTE networks, while smartphone prices will continue to fall, according to industry sources.

Promotions of LTE services were relatively slow in 2010-2011 affected by global economic sluggishness, but carriers around the globe have committed more investments in LTE infrastructure recently amid increasing demand for bandwidth, said the sources.

For instance, LTE services will be available in more than 400 cities covering over 260 million people in the US by year-end 2012, indicated the sources, adding that sales of LTE-enabled terminal devices have exceeded more than 10 million units in the US.

Additionally, LTE-enabled smartphones are expected to serve as a growth driver to push replacement demand in more mature markets, added the sources.

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