Market research company Strategy Analytics expects Samsung to widen its lead over Apple in smartphone sales this year, with growth of about 35 per cent. Analysts at the company say that a cheaper “iPhone mini” is required by Apple to bring the fight to Samsung and target demand in the lower/middle priced smartphone market.
In an interview with Reuters, Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said “We expect Samsung to slightly extend its lead over Apple this year because of its larger multitier product portfolio.” While smartphone sales growth is supposed to decelerate this year due to market saturation, global shipments are still expected to be 27 per cent greater than in 2012.
Looking at individual companies, Samsung is expected to sell 290 million smartphones in 2013 compared to the 215 million it sold in 2012, therefore beating industry average projections at about 35 per cent. Apple’s sales are also expected to do better than the industry average rising 33 per cent compared to last year.
Current iPhone 5
These big rival tech companies are expected to bring new smartphones to battle it out in the markets this year but Samsung’s greater range should help it do better. “Samsung plays in more segments and this should enable it to capture more volume than Apple (assuming Apple does not launch an 'iPhone Mini' this year),” explained the Strategy Analytics exec.
“Booming” iPad mini shows the way
Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners has projected good things from Apple’s December quarter ahead of the results published on 23rd January. In the latest results he expects iPad growth to have been driven to new heights largely by the launch of the iPad mini. The iPad mini is still in short supply following the Xmas rush due to unexpectedly strong demand, especially for the cheaper models.
iPad minis are still selling like hot cakes
On Wednesday a researcher at Topeka Capital Markets, Brian J. White, said he thought that it is likely that Apple may produce a smaller and cheaper iPhone mini targeted at users in China and India. Strategy Analytics exec Mawston agrees about the inevitability of an iPhone mini but thinks it will be 2014 or even later when it emerges. “We think Apple will have to launch an 'iPhone Mini' at some point over the next three years to address the hundreds of millions of prepaid users worldwide that cannot afford the current iPhone.” However he noted that Apple needn’t rush due the great sales success of the current full priced/sized iPhone models. “We expect the iPhone Mini to be more likely next year, in 2014 when ... Apple will be forced to discover fresh growth streams” he concluded.
