Over 1 Bn Feature Phones To Be Sold In 3 Years

Globally, the feature phone segment is forecast to generate around US$16 billion cumulatively in wholesale hardware revenues over the next three years. India remains the largest market in terms of potential feature phone volumes followed by Bangladesh and Nigeria, says a report

In contrast to the smartphone market, which contracted for the first time in 2018, the feature phone market has continued to grow over the last three years. Latest research from counterpoint research estimates that in 2019, a little more than 400 million feature phones will be sold globally. Further, feature phone shipments are expected to cross one billion units by 2021.

According to Peter Richardson, research Director at counterpoint research, India and the Middle East Africa region will drive the growth of the global feature phone market by capturing nearly three-quarter of the market share in 2019. “India and the Middle East Africa region will see cumulative shipments of around 800 million feature phones out of more than one billion global feature phone shipments over the next three years. Globally, the feature phone segment is forecast to generate around US$16 billion cumulatively in wholesale hardware revenues over the next three years,” Peter says.

While India remains the largest market in terms of feature phone volumes, it is closely followed by Bangladesh and Nigeria. In Africa, growth is led by brands like itel and Tecno.