Juniper Research

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A Juniper Research report covered by TechCrunch forecast that annual global sales of low-budget mobile handsets would rise past 700 million units by 2014, up 22% on 2009, as manufacturers chased the estimated 3 billion people worldwide who remained unconnected, many in markets operators had historically avoided due to weak returns. Entry-level phones costing under $60 already accounted for 45% of global handset shipments in 2008, some 535 million units, while ultra-low-cost devices selling for around $5 were a small but fast-growing segment, with Juniper predicting low-cost handsets would make up more than half of all phones sold worldwide by 2014 and that Africa and the Middle East alone would account for roughly a quarter of that year’s low-cost sales.