SINGAPORE: ?The telecom boom in the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific is expected to continue in 2011, and will drive the total mobile subscription rate in the region to grow by more than 15 per cent, said ABI Research in a press release.
Smartphone shipments in Asia will see a significant growth of 56 per cent in 2011, which indicates the growing demand for smartphones in emerging Asian markets.
"Asian markets are proving to be a hot spot for media tablets as well," says Jeff Orr, group director, mobile devices.
"With an estimated 7.8 million media tablets shipped in 2011, media tablets are an important constituent in the ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) category." In addition to media tablets, the UMD category also includes ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and netbooks.
Boost for Android based smartphones
The release further added that, Smartphone shipments in Asian markets will see a boost for Android-based smartphones, with market share increasing to 52 per cent in 2011, up from 16 per cent in 2010.
As a result, the combined market share of Samsung and HTC, the leading Android-based smartphone makers in Asia, will swell from 11 per cent in 2010 to 24 per cent in 2011.
Riding on the success in the low-end handset segment, new players like Micromax, Karbonn, and G'Five are also striving to make their presence felt in the smartphone segment with their "value for money" smartphones. The smartphone market in Asia is likely to see turbulence soon as these mobile phone makers up the ante to increase their smartphone market share.
"Despite the current global economic situation, markets in the Asia-Pacific will continue to see increased acceptance for media tablets, driven by the accelerated penetration of 3G in emerging markets, as well as the availability of media tablets in lower price ranges," added Orr.
ABI Research's new market data, "Asia Handsets, Smartphones, Tablets & Netbooks Forecasts," is updated quarterly and focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and provides forecasts for all Ultra-Mobile Devices (UMDs).