May 2009, Manifesto #4: Changing economics will facilitate increased diversity in handset portfolios

• Andrew Muir Wood, Doctoral Researcher, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge (Profile)
• John Forsyth, Leadership Team, Technology, Symbian Foundation (Profile)

• How can we make it economic to develop a portfolio of handsets which reflects the incredible diversity of customer requirements? Where are are the major costs in differentiation today and how can we refocus them on the differences which actually matter to customers?
• What are the most important elements of the user experience for the customer? Is a person more likely to buy a device because it has a camera with more megapixels or because it comes in a colour they love?
• Is it possible to combine the benefits of a standardised software platform and an effective distribution channel for third party developers with truly personalised devices? How can we overcome the challenges of running similar services across different combinations of screen size and input mechanism?

• Changing the economics of mobile user experience
• The operator and manufacturer identity crisis

• 162m: 162m smartphones were sold in 2008, a figure which is predicted to rise 30% to 211.2m units in 2009, despite a wider contraction in the handset market of around 10%. | (Source: Informa)
• 13.50%: 13.5% of the handset market will be smartphones in 2009, rising to 38% by 2013. | (Source: Informa)
• $144: The bill of materials cost (BoM) for the HTC G1, the first Android-powered handset, is approximately USD 144. This compares with USD 175 for the iPhone 3G. The biggest single cost component is the ARM baseband chip, costing USD 28.49, (19.8 percent of the G1's total BoM), followed by the display panel at USD 19.67 (13.7 percent of the BoM). | (Source: iSuppli)
• 37.00%: 37% of handsets shipped by Verizon Wireless during Q4 2008 were classified as smartphones. | (Source: Verizon)
• 5.00%: A 6 to 8 month increase in the average length of the handset replacement cycle would lead to a 5% year-on-year decline in handset sales during 2009. A 12 month increase would see handset sales falling by 10%. | (Source: Informa)
• 20m: 20m handsets running Windows Mobile were shipped by Microsoft's hardware partners during 2008. This included 30+ different models, 11 of which sold over 1m units each | (Source: Microsoft)
• 15m: Nokia has sold 15m N95 handsets since launching the product in 2007 | (Source: Mobile Entertainment Magazine)
• x2: Apple's share of the US smartphone market doubled from 11.5% to 23% in the 6 months following the July 2008 launch of the iPhone 3G. However, at the start of 2009, it still lagged RIM's 41% share of the market. | (Source: ChangeWave)

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