Polarization Rewrites Rules for Mobile Chip Vendors

摘要

Now that consumers, rather than service carriers, are driving the global market for mobile phones, there is a dramatic polarization in demand between advanced and emerging markets. Besides presenting new market opportunities, this polarization raises challenges for handset manufacturers and chip manufacturers alike. In this situation, mobile handset makers are experiencing new growth dynamics because consumers' strong aspirations for rich, sophisticated features in the advanced markets are spurring the creation of a new generation of lucrative applications. On the other hand, growth in the low-margin, high-volume emerging markets will give handset manufacturers the economies of scale to cut costs without sacrificing profitability.