The race among smartphone manufacturers is not limited only on developing hardware, it is also
happening in software development. The two biggest application stores for users are Google
Play (for Android users) and App Store (for Ios users). Google Play (previously known as the
Android Market) is an international online store where users can download all kind of
applications which are developed by Google for any devices that run Android. It was introduced
in October 2008. According to a survey conducted in 2014 has shown that approximately 1.3+
million apps have been made for this operating system, and 40 billion applications were said to
be downloaded from Google Play (Steve 2014). The later, App Store is a digital distribution
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platform for mobile apps on iOS, developed and maintained by Apple Inc. In June 2015, Apple
announced there have been over 100 billion apps downloaded from the App Store.
Users can download almost anything from these stores, from entertainment applications to
health care apps.
People can check their blood pressures, track their phones, and monitor their
houses from distance with just one click. “Your smartphone ought to be smarter,” Aparna
Chennapragada - Google director said when he was trying to demonstrate one of many new
features on-stage at the developer’s conference hosted in San Francisco. The popularity of
mobile apps has continued to rise, since they are used by more and more people. A study
reported conducted on May by comScore has proved that during the first quarter of 2012, more
mobile users used apps (51.1%) than surfed websites on their devices (49.8%). According to
market research firm Gartner, 102 billion apps will be downloaded by 2013. Even though 91%
of them will be free but they will still generate US$26 billion, increase 44.4% from US$18
billion in 2012. Estimated by an analysist has shown that the app economy makes profit of more
than €10 billion per year just in the European Union, fortunately 529,000 jobs will be created
throughout all 28 states of European Union thanks to the growth of the app market.
3.2 Competition between smartphone brands
There is no doubt that smartphone brands are forced to compete. As a matter of fact, the
competition is much more fiercely than anyone could imagine. We are talking about a full scale
running contest here. This chapter will mostly mention four most popular sections that brands
are using: Price, Design, Operating System and Patents.
3.2.1 Price
A year ago, the marketing departments of almost all the leading brands of Android smart phone
is busy with making multicore processors, GB RAM and growing number of megapixel. In the
race to get the specification sheet prices have easily crossed $600 - and even $750.
However,
the game is now changing. The battle for the best specifications has become an all-out price war
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while the manufacturers are trying to figure out the next “killer” feature, now, at relatively
speaking, price under bargain.
Smartphone brands of Micromax and Karbonn from India are the first brands to realize that
competing on price is the key to success in the country (Parab 2014). Nearly two-thirds of the
smartphone market are priced below $150 segment by IDC. International brands jump on the
bandwagon of this, and the equipment of the most successful Nokia Windows Phone - Lumia
520 - launched just over $150.
In the past 12 months, although Motorola still leading with Moto E and G smartphone thank to
its affordable price, followed by Asus with ZenFone ZenFone 4 and 5 - but there is even cheaper
one – which is the "Chinese Apple "Xiaomi has entered the war with Mi 3 smartphone, which
has specifications comparable Flagships from Samsung, Sony, and HTC, but it is available in
nearly a third of the price.
Karan Thakkar, senior market analyst - Tablets, Enterprise Equipment Clients and computer
screens of IDC, told NDTV Gadgets via email that the smartphone brand of India has forced
global players consider their prices again. In 2015, the low end of the smartphone market
worldwide is getting even more competitive.
On 28 July 2015, Lenovo owns Motorola has announced three new devices: the Moto G, Moto
X Moto X Play and Style. Moto G starting price is $ 179 without a contract. The Company will
disclose the price of the two models Moto X in the coming weeks, according to The Associated
Press. And yesterday, the phone manufacturer China Oneplus introduced its latest device, the
Oneplus 2, with a price tag starting at $ 329 without a contract for two years.
"Increased competition is something not to be missed", Dan Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital
Markets, told CNBC. "That being said, it's going to be very difficult for these lower-end
competitors to really move the needle for the likes Apple and Samsung," Ives added. "Their
market share is iron clad in terms of their base."
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It is clearly not safe for high-end brands for Samsung and Apple. Samsung is facing many threats
in the high–end smartphone market. The company released its high-end Galaxy S5 smartphone
in April last year. But the Galaxy S5 didn’t succeed as much as analysts had expected. In the
UK, The Galaxy S5 ended up being the third-highest-selling, after iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C
even those two were released in September the previous year. The situation wasn’t too different
in the U.S, according to a report conducted by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Galaxy S5 was
the second best-selling device. The leading smartphone in this area is still iPhone 5S.