Low-cost devices sending smartphone and tablet sales soaring in South Asia: Frost and Sullivan

The smartphone and tablet market in South Asia is witnessing rapid growth, driven by the influx of low-cost devices and the rising penetration of mobile internet services.

New analysis from Frost and Sullivan reveals that market revenue is expected to reach US $33.33 billion in 2019 from US $4.45 billion in 2012 and smartphone sales will contribute to almost 70 percent of the total revenue, with the rest accounted for by tablet sales.

Out of the three countries studied - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; India will be the largest contributor to market revenues.

Frost and Sullivan's Information and Communication Technologies Research Analyst said, "Buoyed by the availability of mobile Internet services, end users are using smartphones as their primary medium for Internet access. The availability of a healthy mobile application ecosystem that provides entertainment as well as utility will further boost the sale of smartphones. For tablets, designing dedicated applications will further spur their uptake".

Demand will continue to soar owing to falling device prices caused by the advent of user-friendly, open-source Android devices and the decreasing costs of components such as displays, chipsets and memory chips. Intense competition among the vendors in the region has also reduced price points.

Despite the drop in price, the total cost of device ownership remains high, reining in adoption. Another concern that has the potential to severely impact market development is the widespread proliferation of grey channel sales, which in turn, affect the profitability of authorized vendors.

The analyst further said, "To appeal to the wide consumer base in the region, offering well-developed mobile applications and mobile broadband ecosystems is very essential. Therefore, vendors must constantly invest in technology innovation as well as provide effective pricing models to enable market expansion".