Low-cost Android Phone Shipments to Reach 339 Million in 2015

A new report from market intelligence firm In-Stat suggests that annual shipments of low-cost Android devices will reach 339 million units in 2015. This is quite acceptable, because Android becomes more and more popular in the globe, and apart from high-end devices Google’s platform runs on weaker handsets as well.

By low-cost Android devices In-Stat basically refers to sub-$150 smartphones. Do you remember HTC co-founder Cher Wang’s words stating that HTC will produce sub-$100 phones? In this regard, I guess there’s nothing unbelievable in the fact that  Google’s mobile operating system will be on 339 million devices. Moreover, In-Stat claims these featured phones will run Android 2.2 and 2.3 because these versions of Android have fewer requirements in terms of hardware, unlike Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. In-Stat Research Director Allen Nogee particularly says:

“The low-cost Android handset segment will cause some fragmentation in the Android platform. Most low-cost Android smartphones are likely to be released with Android 2.2 or 2.3, since these versions are a good blend of features with modest memory and processor usage. The Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) step-up in memory and processor demands makes this release less attractive for low-cost Android devices.”

Analysts have introduced their assumptions in The Worldwide Emergence of Low-Cost Android Smartphones report saying featured smartphones market will generally stick to EDGE networks, and processors speeds will most likely remain at 600MHz or less. They think the processors will be bought for $10 or less. Smaller smartphone vendors can also purchase components from the “gray market” to save on costs. It doesn’t actually matter how fast the smartphone market is growing and what the most beloved handsets are, and do you know why? Because there’s a huge number of consumers unable or unwilling to pay more than $50 or $100 for a smartphone, while almost everyone wants an Android-based device. So low cost Android phones will definitely be a good option for them.

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