01/13/2009, 12:10pm, EST
Tuesday, January 13thApple to hold 40 percent of smartphone market?
Apple may occupy an extremely large portion of the global smartphone market if current trends continue, says Generator Research. The firm claims that by 2013 Apple may hold as much as 40 percent of the market, a figure which would necessarily come at the expense of other cellphone makers like Nokia. Although currently one of the largest smartphone producers, it is thought that Nokia may suffer most, dropping from 40 to 20 percent.
Apple's advantage is said to be its vertical integration; much as the iTunes Store was specifically engineered to support the iPod, the App Store is said to provide "advanced mobile services" that other companies simply cannot compete with. "Outsiders are rewriting the mobile industry's rulebook for how to deliver mobile services," writes Generator analyst Andrew Sheehy, "and the new rule #1 is that you need a fully-integrated service development platform that has a rich API which is open to third party developers on favourable commercial terms. Right now, Apple has the best platform and the best-looking forward roadmap."
Sheehy expects shipments of 77 million iPhones in 2013, divided between a range of models. The company will also likely open network assets for developers, says Sheehy, granting the ability to produce apps with new messaging and voice call functions.
Filed under: iPhone, industry, mobile phones, Apple
Other story tags: Nokia, App Store
, 
, 6
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Top
subscribe to comments
for this article
o please
Why even bother? 2013 is four years away. Four years ago, the iPhone didn't even exist. who can possible foretell what this market is going to be like (or even smartphones will be replaced by phone implants or phones built into clothing with display in your sunglasses....).
Dynsight
Shhhhh. Don't say things like that! The fanboys here will give you the "thumbs down" for any comments which contradict apple ruling the world.
Everyone knows the article is ridiculous. If you just analyze percentage growth, then in 10 years there will be more iphones than people. Today's media industry relies on amazing headlines.
Doh
Macnn really=fail recently. (like last 3 years). I remember when this site used to have actual mac news.
;)
I become more powerful with every "thumbs down" my comments receive!
Hit with me them! Come on! Apple is for seniors and tweens!
Ballmer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo
So, how's that coming?
There's a sucker born...
Seriously? You're actually considering a trend for a new device to continue with no change whatsoever?
Not the smartest assumption, especially with other senior handset makers playing catch-up. Granted, the iPhone has raised the bar on smartphones and may have opened up the market to entirely new demographic groups, but handset price & plan price are always going to allow for competition.
We could easily see more or fewer sales, depending on what other players and apple do. Let's just leave it at this:
Don't plan on the exact returns of current trends four years from now. Of course, even the most limited of investors knows that much...