Smartphones will assume leadership in sales this year

On the market of technology equipment, there is no thread that has a base of 16 million unit and fold in size in less than a year. With this phrase, Leonardo Munin, market analyst of IDC Brazil, summarizes the importance that smartphones have earned in the country.
The consultancy estimates that this year, sales of smartphones in Brazil will reach 35 million units, up from 16 million last year, representing a jump of 122% over the period. Conventional cellphones, in turn, will have a drop of 28.7%, to 31 million units, compared with 43.2 million in 2012.
This is the first year of the reign of the smartphones will overcome their phones in sales in Brazil. This movement began in the second quarter and tends to intensify from now on. "From the moment when the Government announced the tax exemption for equipment, there was an incentive for consumers to go to stores, even before the effective reduction in prices," said the analyst.
In April, the Ministry of communications approved the tax exemption of smartphones manufactured in Brazil. The expectation of the Government was to generate a tax waiver for year of $ 500 million and bring an immediate impact on prices with the IPI tax exemption and the resignation of PIS and Cofins.
Retail networks, which have more capacity to finance sales with longer time limits, benefited immediately with the change of scenery. According to IDC, this year, 52% of smartphones sold in the country came from retailers and 48% were negotiated in the shops of the carriers. Last year, half of the sales were made at retail. Two years ago, the retailers accounted for less than one-third of total sales. "In stores, even though consumers have not found initially that prices expected, ended up taking the devices because the plots fit in your pocket," said Munin.
Starting in may, with the arrival on the market of equipment manufactured in Brazil with the tax exemption, prices cooled. This year, the average price of a smartphone is estimated by IDC at $ 690, compared with the average of $ 877 in 2012, which corresponds to a decline of 21%. Munin said operators also endeavoured to offer options with even lower prices. He cited the launch by live from a smartphone operating system, Firefox, Mozilla Foundation, to $ 399. "There is a portion of the lower income classes who still doesn't have smartphone and begins to access this market with low-cost appliances," he said.
Another factor that stimulates sales of these devices is the fact that manufacturers have expanded their lines of models that can operate with two or more chips, taking into account the interests of consumers who take advantage of promotions from different carriers throughout the month. Not to mention the tendency of consumers to seek convenience in internet access, to access e-mail, websites and social networks from anywhere at any time.
Munin considers, however, unlikely that conventional phones may disappear from the market. He recalls that in the Northeast and North regions of traditional cellular consumption is still quite strong. "In the future, these devices will be used to meet some niches, but they still present a significant volume to disappear in the short term," he said.
In the third quarter, sales of conventional devices have fallen 33% as compared to the same period in 2012, to 7.5 million units. Sales of smartphones have increased 147%, peaking at 10.4 million units.