NPD: Global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 937 million units in 2013, and feature phone shipments will reach 889 million units

In the early morning of May 21, 2013, the US market research company NPD released a report today saying that in 2013, global shipments of smartphones will exceed feature phones for the first time.

The report shows that 937 million smartphones and 889 million feature phones are expected to be shipped in 2013. Between 2011 and 2016, smartphone shipments grew at a compound annual growth rate of 26%, reaching 1.45 billion units in 2016, accounting for two-thirds of global mobile phone shipments.

NPD predicts that smartphone shipments will grow rapidly in the next two years, mainly because smartphones have larger displays, higher resolutions, faster processors, and larger storage capacities, which can better meet users' needs for computing devices.
Earlier this year, IDC also released a similar forecast, but the specific data was slightly different. According to the IDC report, smartphone shipments in 2013 will reach 918.6 million units, accounting for 50.1% of the total global mobile phone shipments.
Both reports show that smartphone shipments will exceed feature phones in 2013. In fact, IDC's first quarter global mobile phone shipment report has already shown this trend. The report pointed out that in the first quarter, global smartphone shipments reached 216.2 million units, accounting for 51.6%, surpassing feature phones for the first time.
NPD mentioned in the report that the main driving force for the growth of smartphone shipments lies in emerging markets, because the networks in emerging markets are upgraded from 3G to 4G, and the price of entry-level smartphones is less than US$200. In addition, China has made an indelible contribution to the development of entry-level smartphones, which account for 55% of the total smartphone shipments, and China is currently the largest market for smartphones.
The report also shows that smartphones supporting LTE networks will account for 23% of the market this year, while high-resolution smartphones using AMOLED and LTPS LCD panels will also see significant growth, surging from 1.7 million units in 2012 to 113 million units in 2013.
This reflects the mainstream development trend of smartphones in the future: more and more users are willing to use large-screen phones. Currently, devices with screen sizes of 4 inches to 5 inches account for 57%, and it is expected that the share of devices with screens larger than 5 inches will increase to 16%.