Apps to drive global smartphone sales bonanza

Converged technologies are making smartphones highly desirable

Worldwide sales of smartphone devices will reach 2.5 billion between now and 2015 as consumers take advantage of the wealth of available applications and technologies, according to a new report by Coda Research Consultancy.

Company founder and report author Steve Smith said that the main reason for this dramatic rise will be the breadth of services the devices can support.

"Applications form on of the main reason for the growth of smartphones. We would not be seeing the level of sales if it wasn't for the level of converged technologies smartphone devices can offer compared to standard mobile devices," he said.

The report found that China is expected to see significant growth, rising from sales of seven million last year to 98 million in 2015, predominately of low-end devices retailing for under $100 (£68).

"We will see a hierarchy of smartphones, with the iPhone and some Android handsets at the high end, and a growing number of cheaper smartphones at the lower end to meet the demand for mobile internet from consumers," Smith said.

Smartphone sales in western Europe are expected to rise by 20 per cent in the next five years, dominated by the UK, France, Germany and Spain.

Prices are expected to fall during this period, but the drop will not be hugely significant as operators will ensure that they can cover the costs of rising bandwidth use.

"A good comparison is that of the iPhone. When Vodafone and Orange got the device in the UK users anticipated a drop in price, but in reality very little changed. We expect to see a similar situation for tariffs on smartphone devices, " said Smith.