Report: Multimedia Mobile Phone Shipments Will Exceed TV Sets in 2008
Posted by geoffwhiting on December 8, 2007
Shipments of multimedia mobile phones in 2008 will exceed 300 million units, more than the shipments of TV sets, according to MultiMedia Intelligence. It defines a multimedia phone as having at least a one-megapixel camera, MP3 audio, video playback, a 16-bit color QVGA screen, Bluetooth and a browser. It says such devices will drive global revenues of $76 billion, with 300 million shipped. That’s more than annual shipments of TV sets.
“The mobile phone will become the world’s most ubiquitous entertainment platform. Multimedia has become the term of the day as wireless service has expanded beyond voice to include a variety of communication, data, and entertainment services,” said Frank Dickson, MultiMedia Intelligence’s chief research officer. “Voice services are suffering under increasing price pressure, forcing operators to leverage data services to sustain revenue growth and offset declining the average revenue per unit (ARPU) from phone calls. Handset manufacturers are racing to meet the consumer and operator demands for increasingly feature-rich multimedia handsets, while controlling handset cost and power consumption.”
The company says the sales of touch screen phones will hit 200 million by 2011, up from almost nothing this year. Apple’s iPhone jumpstarted the trend towards the use of touch screens on mobile phones. The report says touch-screen phones will in four years account for 20% of all handset sales.
The report, “Wanted: Multimedia Handsets: Consumer Desires Meet Operators ARPU Needs,” also found that:
- Integration trends are driving silicon providers to integrate baseband and applications processors into single chips like Texas Instruments’ LoCosto platform. The trend is currently focused on low-end handsets where cost is an issue, but it will migrate to higher end handsets over the forecast period.
- If the definition of a multimedia handset were limited to just phones with an image sensor, MP3 audio support and video playback, 60% of handsets would have basic multimedia functionality. By 2011, almost nine of 10 handsets would qualify.
- Handsets are playing an increasing role in operators’ efforts to attract and retain subscribers. The major operators are demanding exclusive multimedia handsets, innovative form factors and rich multimedia features in smart phones from the major handset vendors including Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson.
- A multitude of connectivity options have been integrated into the cellular handset including IrDA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB. Of these, only IrDA is seeing declining penetration as a percentage of handsets shipped. Bluetooth will be the most ubiquitous connectivity option in handsets, while Wi-Fi promises to have the biggest long-term impact on handset usage.
- Phones with touch screens were a “rounding error” in the market in 2006. By 2011, the number of handsets with touch screens will approach 200 million.
