Emerging Markets are seeing a huge surge in smart connected devices, especially Smartphones & Tablets, with roughly 1 Billion units expected to be shipped out by 2014 according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker.
Among all the emerging countries, the BRIC nation (China, India, Brazil & Russia) alone account for nearly 60 percent shipments (662 million units with shipment value of USD 206 billion) of Smart Connected Devices. On the other hand, developed markets (United States, UK, and )Japan are expected to capture over 400 million units with a shipment value of USD 204 billion.
The demand for smart devices is quickly shifting from developed to emerging markets with BRIC countries alone expected to surpass the developed markets by 2014. Emerging markets are expected to grow at a CAGR of 17 percent as compared to 7 percent forecast in developed markets.
In terms of product categories, out of 1.7 billion units expected to be shipped out worldwide, more than 1.4 billion units are expected to be of smartphones and tablets, representing more than $500 billion in value.
While the demand for smartphones and tablets is increasing, the average selling prices of these smart devices is steadily decreasing.
The average selling price of tablets have fallen by nearly 19 percent – From USD 525 in 2011 to USD 426 in 2012. Average Smartphone selling prices have fallen by nearly 8.2 percent – From USD 443 in 2011 to USD 407 in 2012.
IDC tracker also finds that, in emerging countries, sub USD 300 smartphones and sub USD 350 tablets will account for majority of shipments in 2014 and beyond. Developed markets on the other hand will continue to have higher average selling prices – USD 490 for Smartphones and USD 370 for Tablets.
Another aspect that is expected to drive the surge of connected devices in emerging markets is growing usage by local governments in education space. Countries like India, Thailand, Turkey, and the UAE are increasingly looking at distributing low-cost tablets among students, thereby creating a big surge in demand for these devices.
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