Australians are continuing their love affair with smartphones, with nearly 10 million more expected to be in use by 2015, taking the total number of smartphone users to 18.5 million, according to new research from research firm Telsyte.
Australians are continuing their love affair with smartphones, with nearly 10 million more expected to be in use by 2015, taking the total number of smartphone users to 18.5 million, according to new research from research firm Telsyte.
By 2015 nearly 90 percent of all mobile users will have a smartphone as their primary device, up from just under 50 percent in 2011, Telsyte says
The company’s Australian Smartphone Market Study 2011-2015 tracks the uptake, use and purchasing intentions of smartphone buyers in Australia, including the applications people use on their increasingly powerful devices.
Telsyte forecasts that Apple’s iPhone will continue to have installed market leadership until around 2014, with Android devices from a range of vendors including HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Huawei increasingly taking market share.
Telsyte predicts Nokia to be a dark horse following its adoption of Windows Phone 7 while it reckons that – for all its current problems – Blackberry will maintain a niche following with some business users.
“Over the coming four years Telsyte estimates that more than 30 million smartphones will be sold in Australia, creating a vibrant and competitive market for vendors, carriers and retailers,” says Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi.
He says Telsyte research shows that platform lock-in is becoming more prevalent as users often intend to purchase the same platform, or brand of device, in future purchase cycles. “The movement from a device mentality to a platform and application mentality in consumers is a game changer for the industry that was once just focused on moving boxes,” Fadaghi says.
Telsyte predicts the explosion in smartphone usage will have a profound effect on the media industry. Many online publishers in Australia will have a larger smartphone audience than computer-based online audience by 2015, it predicts
