The International Data Corporation has released its quarterly report showing massive market growth.
A new report has recently been released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), in which a new analysis of mobile trends has been conducted and has shown that the start of 2014 experienced an anticipated post-holiday reduction in shipment volumes, but still managed to experience a first quarter year over year increase.
The data within the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker revealed considerable insight.
It looked into a series of mobile trends and showed that there were a total of 281.5 million smartphones that were shipped by vendors, worldwide, within the first quarter. This was a 28.6 percent increase over the first quarter of last year, in which 218.8 million units were shipped. The report also went on to compare the actual results with the forecasts that had been made within the IDC’s previous mobile market reports.
It showed that the actual mobile trends are stronger than what the IDC had previously anticipated.
The performance of in the first quarter actually beat the IDC’s forecasted shipment of 267.2 million units within the quarter. This was a miss of 5.3 percent. Within the overall cell phone marketplace – which includes smartphones, feature phones, and other similar handheld mobile communication devices – vendors shipped 448.6 million units, worldwide.
This was an increase of 3.9 percent from the first quarter of 2013 results, which were 431.8 million units. At the same time, this was a drop from the previous quarter, as Q4 in 2013 shipped 9 percent more at 492.8 million units. The number of units sold in the first quarter of this year was lower than what the IDC had forecasted. They thought that the figure would be 0.6 percent higher, at 451.3 million units.
Of all of the cell phones that were sold in the first quarter of 2014, smartphones made up 62.7 percent. This is a tremendous rise from the same quarter the year before, when they represented just over half, at 50.7 percent. Clearly, these mobile trends indicate that smartphones are gaining greater penetration and that their popularity continues to soar on a global scale.
Mobile games establishing a formidable presence
Consumers are expected to spend more money on mobile games than those on traditional handheld systems by the end of 2013, according to forecasts from the International Data Corporation (IDC). The research firm has tracked the sales of handheld games for some time, finding the market somewhat volatile and relatively devoid of consumer interest. Even Nintendo, which has long reigned in the realm of handheld gaming, has been seeing lackluster sales for its 3DS platform. Mobile games seem to be replacing traditional handheld gaming as smartphones and tablets become more technologically advanced.
IDC predicts decline in handheld sales through 2017
The IDC anticipates that sales for the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PS Vita will fall by 7% year-on-year through 2017. Mobile games are expected to pick up the slack due to their rampant popularity and the widespread availability of free-to-play titles. The IDC notes that handheld games will still be able to produce higher levels of revenue, however, due to the fact that many mobile games are either free or available at a very low price. This advantage is considered modest due to the fact that most mobile games have in-app purchases and advertisements, which account for the majority of the revenue generated by these games.
Android expected to become ideal platform for mobile games
Android is considered to be the most promising platform in the mobile games sector, according to the IDC. The firm notes that the Android platform is somewhat fragmented, making it difficult for game developers to find traction through the platform the same way they can find success with the iOS platform. Nonetheless, Android has been growing to become more intuitive and accommodating to the gaming environment. So much so that the IDC expects Android to beat out all other platforms in the mobile games field in the near future.
Free-to-play model continues to grow
Free-to-play mobile games will likely be the key to dominance over handheld games. The IDC predicts that the game industry will become more adept in fashioning free-to-play business models that allow consumers to enjoy mobile games for free while also offering valuable services for a fee. Consumers remain somewhat dubious concerning in-app purchases, often called microtransactions, but the IDC anticipates that consumers will grow more accommodating as this business model becomes the norm for the game industry.
