By 2017, Africa will be the leader in smartphone sales

Developers will soon have to focus on the emerging markets of Africa and Eastern Europe. What are the reasons, Pyramid Research analysts found out.

By 2017, the US and Western European markets will no longer be the driving forces of the mobile device industry. According to Pyramid Research forecasts, about 1.5 billion smartphones will be sold from 2012 to 2017. Two-thirds of these sales (58%) will bring markets outside the United States and Western Europe. 

The fastest growing countries will be Africa and the Middle East – annual sales growth of 26.3%, Central and Western Europe – growth of 24% per year. As a result, developers will be forced to get used to emerging markets and learn the specifics of consumer demand in these regions.