Smart phones overtake basic mobile phones in Europe

Smart phones overtake basic mobile phones in Europe

The Guardian newspaper, thursday 8/9/11,  reported "New data released by research company IDC show smartphone shipments up 48% compared to the same period in 2010, reaching nearly 22m, as Samsung, Apple, HTC and BlackBerry maker RIM dominated the market and Finland's Nokia saw its previous dominance wiped out. Last year smartphones made up just over a third of mobile phone sales in the region."

However, alternative research from IMS suggests that, infact, there is a SIM card sales explosion: "Of the 4.2 billion SIMs sold in 2010, 85% were to existing SIM card users, i.e. existing users of cellular handsets. This means that more than 80% of SIM-based cell phone users replaced their SIM cards last year. This may seem a little surprising as the proportion of cell phone users that replaced their actual handsets last year was much less than this. In fact at a global level, only 24% of cell phone users replaced their handsets with brand new handsets last year."

Moreover, IMS research further suggests when dealing with 4FF embedded SIMs: "With the current removable model, the volume of SIM cards sold in 2016 is set to pass 6 billion. If all cards were embedded by this time the number would be nearer 2 billion, around half what it was last year! As the SIM card market represents more than 80% of smart card volumes, this would be very bad news for many card and semiconductor suppliers."

On the basis of both reports the news in quite uplifting and a useful indicator of growth. At a time when the Prime Minister, David Cameron, looks to re-assess economic imbalance (services -v- manufacturing) in Britian, the elements to bring about the stimulus for wealth-creation, productivity and employment maybe here. Why would that be so? Because here is an area where services and manufacturing are required to forge a union in order that both can co-exist, such that they work not only in practice but in principle, too.

I am happy to revisit the sub-text of my 1988 proposal 'Putting Britain First' and reference to other reading materials if it would help put meat on the bones of this one.