Global smartphone sales to top 1bn this year due to decrease in prices: IDC

Johannesburg: Global smartphone sales are reportedly expected to exceed one billion units for the first time this year, a market tracker has predicted.

The International Data Corporation has indicated that smartphone growth will be 39.3 percent this year over 2012, a pace that will moderate in the next few years.

According to News24, IDC said that one key factor in the marketplace is the decline in smartphone prices and the average sales price this year is estimated at 337 dollars, down 12 percent from a year ago and further drop to 265 dollars is expected by 2017.

IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said that the key driver behind smartphone volumes in the years ahead is the expected decrease in prices which will move beyond the urban elite and into the hands of mass-market users.

IDC expects the smartphone shipments to hit 1.7 billion by 2017, with the growth rate easing to an average of 18.4 percent in the coming year.

The research firm said that the fastest growth in smartphones will be in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions, each expected to see increases of around 23 percent in the next four years, the report added.