The IDC has announced that smartphones are now shipping in larger numbers than feature phones.
An important first has been making technology news headlines as the International Data Corporation has announced that in 2013, the number of smartphones that have been shipped will be greater than the number of feature phones.
The IDC is calling this a groundbreaking milestone since its initial prediction was made this week.
The IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report has released the technology news in addition to the statistics to back it up. The organization has predicted that approximately 918.6 million smartphones will have been shipped this year around the world. This represents 50.1 percent of the total shipments of mobile phones. Though it is only a sliver above the halfway mark, it represents the first time that the smart devices have taken the lead.
One of the reasons for this technology news is that the price of smartphones is coming down around the globe.
Aside from prices, there are other factors that were included in the technology news announcement. For instance, there are far more options available among smartphones than ever before. Furthermore, there has been a widespread roll-out of data focused fourth generation (4G) wireless networks in many regions worldwide. This has made the devices increasingly attractive to users who can now afford them and can use them in a realistic and practical way.
The technology news report also showed that the IDC anticipates that within the next four years, there will have been 1.5billion more smartphones shipped globally. This will make up more than two out of every three mobile phone shipments.
Central to the size of these technology news numbers are the massive emerging markets around the world, such as those in India and China. According to an IDC Asia/Pacific senior research manager, Melissa Chau, “While we don’t expect China’s smartphone growth to maintain the pace of a runaway train as it has over the last two years, there continue to be big drivers to keep the market growing as it leads the way to ever-lower smartphone prices and the country’s transition to 4G networks is only just beginning.”
Mobile games developers may benefit from new publishing platform
Chillingo, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts that publishes mobile games, has announced its partnership with Samsung this week. The two companies will work together to provide new tools to the mobile games developer community, helping them find the success they crave in a highly competitive industry. Samsung has been showing very strong interest in mobile games recently, backing several initiatives designed to provide better services to independent developers around the world. Electronic Arts also holds an acute interest in mobile games because of the vast potential that can be found throughout the burgeoning market.
Platform offers 100% revenue shares for mobile games developers
Together, Chillingo and Samsung will work to develop a new platform for mobile games developers that will offer them unparalleled revenue opportunities. This platform is called 100% Indie and acts as a community hub where developers can share they games, which are then made widely available to Samsung customers. The new platform will be opened to developers beginning March 4, and will offer them 100% of the revenue they generate through the mobile games that they sell through the platform for the first six months that they are active.
Independent developers receive strong support from consumers
The platform offers higher revenue opportunities for developers than any other platform of its kind in the world. Chillingo believes that the mobile games market is filled with promising developers that often struggle to find the success they need in order to be stable. Many developers are unable to compete with studios that have the backing of large publishers, such as Electronic Arts, but many consumers have fallen in love with the so called “indie” scene, where games are produced and published by their developers rather than through large corporations.
Chillingo expects to see success through new platform
After the first six months a game has been on the 100% India platform, the revenue share that developers have access to will drop. This drop will continue in modest fashion until March 2015, when it will come more in line with the revenue shares offered by other platforms. Chillingo believes that the platform will help expose consumers to very promising mobile games from new developers.
