Mobile Handset Industry to Radically Change in Next Five Years Jan 22, 2009

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In the next five years, the nature of cell phones will change radically, reports In-Stat. Increasing availability of mobile broadband, operator support for data-intensive devices, and improvements in usability for mobile devices brought about by the influence of the Apple iPhone will evolve the designs of handheld devices, the market research and consultancy firm says.

"Consumers are nearing their limits adjusting to the added complexity of converged devices," says David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst. "Feature proliferation is impinging on usability. Handset vendors and mobile operators must carefully evaluate the drive toward increasingly converged devices with features and functions that add direct value to consumers."

In-Stat also found:

* Wi-Fi will become increasingly available in handsets; In-Stat forecasts more than 300 million Wi-Fi-enabled cell phones will be sold in 2012.
* Annual smartphone sales will double over the next five years.
* By 2012, annual sales of handsets able to receive video content will exceed a half-billion.
* According to a survey of more than 1500 individuals from In-Stat’s technology adoption panel, almost 60% of respondents indicate some level of interest or already use Wi-Fi for VoIP using a cell phone.

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