Skip to main content

China to leapfrog the U.S. in mobile phone revenue, according to report

chinese authorities will make things tough china foreign smartphone companies mobile market
Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to a report by predictive analysis firm Strategy Analytics, Chinese consumers will spend more than $87 billion on mobile phones this year. The firm predicts that U.S. consumers, by comparison, will spend $60 billion, which makes China poised to overtake the U.S. to become the world’s largest mobile phone market, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

According to Strategy Analytics senior analyst Woody Oh, China’s shift to 3G and 4G smartphones will help mobile phone sales rise 15 percent to 430 million units in 2014. This rise is aided by Samsung’s, Huawei’s and Lenovo’s expansions across China in order to meet demand. In addition, the increase is aided by the decrease in the low tier market and increase in other higher-price segments.

Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston isn’t very concerned about the U.S. market, however.

“High average selling prices for mobile phones and huge operator subsidies from Sprint and others continue to make the U.S. a very profitable market for major device brand such as Apple, Samsung and Alcatel,” said Mawston. On the other hand, the firm predicts U.S. mobile phone sales will stagnate at 163 million units, with revenues rising just 4 percent.

Strategy Analytics also points out that smartphone penetration in mature markets will saturate, with emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China witnessing growing revenue rates above the global average. According to the firm, those countries will compose over a third of global handset revenue in 2014.

(Image courtesy of Vepar5/Shutterstock)

Editors' Recommendations

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
The Nothing Phone 1 has finally launched in the U.S. — kind of
The Nothing Phone 1's camera module.

The Nothing Phone 1 launched globally last year with vague promises of a future U.S. release, but now Nothing fans don't have to wait any longer for the smartphone to make its way stateside. Soft-launching through a "Beta Membership," the Nothing Phone 1 is finally available for Americans who are willing to be a part of Nothing's test program before it officially launches with retailers later in 2023.

While it's certainly exciting for the Nothing Phone 1 to be making its way to the U.S., the release and branding of the membership program are a little odd. It gives fans the opportunity to try out the phone and test Nothing OS 1.5, which is based on Android 13 and represents a major update from Nothing OS 1.0's Android 12 foundation. If you want in, you need to pay $299.

Read more
The Nothing Phone is finally coming to the U.S., and I can’t wait
The Nothing Phone 1 held in a mans hand, seen from the back.

Nothing just announced that it has sold over 1 million combined units of its maiden smartphone and stylish earbuds, barely a year after its first product launched. The juicy revelation came courtesy of a CNBC interview, during which co-founder Carl Pei said the company is planning to bring its flashy smartphones to the U.S. market. 
The British upstart from the former OnePlus co-founder hasn’t put the Nothing Phone 1 on American retail shelves, despite the phone making positive waves in Europe and Asia. The company had argued that it was primarily focusing on markets where it has “strong partnerships with leading local carriers.”  

However, the company did commit to launching “a U.S.-supported mobile in the future.” Now, the confirmation comes straight from Pei, teh CEO. He cited “additional technical support, to support all the carriers and their unique customizations” as the reasons why the Nothing Phone 1 didn’t come to Apple’s home market. 

Read more
World Cup: FIFA app made U.S. soccer fans’ tickets disappear
FIFA's ticketing app for the 2022 World Cup.

Fans with virtual tickets for some of Qatar’s first World Cup soccer games on Monday were left wondering if they’d be able to enter the stadium after the official FIFA ticketing app crashed shortly before kick-off.

U.S. fans with tickets for the Wales game, and England fans planning to see the clash with Iran, were among “thousands” of ticket-holders unable to access the FIFA app that held their virtual tickets, ESPN reported on Monday.

Read more