Android Still Remains The Front-Runner in The Smartphone Business

Every year the smart phone companies are coming up with something new to attract the consumers towards them, with Android and Apple as the front-runners. The battle between these giants continues but Android still remains the dominating force and is likely to dominate ahead in the times, says the research firm IDC. However, the growth of smart phone market is slowing down.By the end of year 2014 the total shipment of the Android devices is expected to reach a mark of 1.06 billion giving Google the largest percentage of 82% in the space of smart phones. According to IDC the Apple will come second to Android with a substantial difference, holding about 14 % share and 178 million shipments around the globe. Windows phones however, have a slight share of only 2.7 % with only 35 millions shipments.The road seems rough for other competitors as IDC reports that the Android market is so dominant that new Operating Systems like, Firefox and Tizen will have to bring something miraculous to the table in order to compete with Google. The price factor alone cannot win them substantial amount of consumers.According to IDC’s prediction the shipments of smart phones around the globe will hit around 13 billion units by the end of 2014, which is an evident increase of 26% compared to the year 2013. However, that is likely to change by the end of year 2015 as only 1.4 billion phones will be shipped. Compared to the 26% increase in 2014, the percentage drops to 13% by the end of 2015 and the percentage is likely to drop down till the year 2018.In the upcoming days, the good news for consumers is that they can expect smart phones to be a little cheaper as the IDC reports that the average price of phones by the end of 2014 will drop from $297 to $241. This drop in price will be driven by the increase in demand from the emerging economies.IDC reports say that consumers wouldn’t have to worry about buying the top-notch flagship phones to ensure decent experience or hardware quality. However, the question that comes to mind is, actually how low the prices can go?