Smartphone Wars in Developing Economies

The U.S was the perfect environment to develop smartphone technology and millions of consumers now carry around devices made by companies like Apple and Samsung.

The amazing popularity of smartphones and the high level of people who now own one in the U.S has almost reached saturation point and this has resulted in the world’s leading technology companies now looking to divert their attentions to developing economies, where demand is still growing rapidly.

As this Smartphone Wars infographic illustrates, the battle is well and truly on for the major manufacturers to stake their claim in the hearts and minds of people from economies where consumerism is taking off in a big way.

The so-called BRIC countries feature heavily in the smartphone wars battle lines as you might expect with a growing middle-class eager to experience the new convenience and technology that was once out of their reach.

In addition to India, China and Brazil featuring in the top ten markets for smartphone sales growth in 2015, places like Nigeria and Vietnam also make a top ten that has a combined growth of $10 billion, which demonstrates why the executives at the likes of Apple and Samsung are so keen to focus on these corners of the globe.

In another ten years from now, there is probably a chance that these markets might also reach saturation point in smartphone users, but there are a lot of potential buyers to attract for the tech giants concerned before we reach that point.

Pepperdine University Online